Duelist Chronicles
by Metaldix and Neverclaw
Summary: Luke never thought he'd get into so much trouble just for wanting to return Yugi Muto some cards. But will he and his friends accomplish their goal? Will they prevail as Elite Duelists? Read to find out! AT LAST! CHAPTER 32 EDITED!
1. Chapter 1

Duelist Chronicles

Metaldix: So, this will be our first chapter-

Neverclaw: -And our first story here!

Metaldix: Hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: We shall begin a boring, and totally uninteresting story which you won't like! HA! THAT WAS REVERSE PSYCHOLOGY! Anyw00t, We do not own the Yugioh characters mentioned, such as Yugi (Yuugi).

**CHAPTER 1: **The Legacy

It was a rainy day, gray and dull, yet to some, it was a day full of surprises. A day of a certain tournament.

There was a boy of about fourteen running down the street. The kid sprinted across roads drenched with puddles, rushed at corners, panting all the time.

When he reached a two-storied building, supposedly his house, he slammed the door only to find a middle-aged woman scolding him.

"Luke, don't scare me like that! Where have you been? You're so dirty...You've better have a good explanation!"

"I was at a dueling tournament! And guess what!"

But the woman didn't seem as thrilled as him.

"What I am guessing is that you're going to have a bath right now!"

Luke rolled his eyes. "Ohh, mom, I got the semifinals—

"It's not very smart to waste your money on useless cards!"

"—No! I saw Yugi Muto! The one who defeated Kaiba a day ago! And that's not all; I even talked to him and autographed my hand, look!"

He then showed his hand to his mother, but as he was all wet, the autograph was half-erased and unreadable.

"Oh my God! You MUST take a shower NOW!"

Luke groaned, and stomped upstairs.

–Why doesn't she ever listen to me?- The teen thought while getting in the shower.

Luke washed his chocolate-brown hair with shampoo and soaped his body.

After showering, he put on a white tank top under a blue jacket. He also wore black baggies with a pair of leather boots with buckles. He picked up his essential fanny pack, which he used to put his deck in, and put on his fingerless gloves.

Downstairs, his mother glanced at him, noticing he wasn't wearing his pijamas like last time.

"That's my boy; you've always had my dark hair and the same height as me but you have your father's brown eyes...Oh! Speaking of your father! He sent a letter to you, from Canada. Take it."

She opened a drawer, picked out a misshapen envelope and gave it to his son, who rushed upstairs into his room to it. He closed the door and leapt onto the nearest chair. He shook the envelope until a letter and a tiny bundle dropped from inside of it. He first read what it was written on the paper, and left the latter on his desk:

_Dear Luke,_

_I miss you. You know, I've been working really hard, and now I'm pretty high up in the business. But it's been a couple of months since I've last seen you, and, well, you know your old man. On my time off, I was walking down the street the other day when I saw a certain shop. I used what it was in my wallet to buy something for the son I love. Hope you like these cards. _

_Best wishes, _

_Your dad, Julius_

_P.S.: Burn the letter or something because if your mother knows I've sent you some 'useless' cards, she'll kill me._

This last commentary made Luke chuckle slightly, but then he opened the other little package to reveal three cards. He studied them and realized which cards they were...

"YAHOOOOO!"

This shout made the mother downstairs drop the plate she had in her hands.

"What's the matter up there, Luke?" Luke inmediately turned on the television to avoid suspicion.

"Nothing at all...The TV program got exciting, nothing else, hehe." An innocent smile made the woman leave, leaving him free to open a drawer full of cards to prepare his deck in an way that it'd make good combos with those new cards.

Sunday morning, he woke up and struggled sleepily downstairs.

–Uh-oh, enemy blocking the way...-

"Where do you think you're going? You have plenty of homework to do!"

–No worries, I can get through the enemy lines.-

"I'll just go to hang out with Roy and Angel for a while! See ya!" He kissed her on the cheek and when she tried to hug him, he opened the door and escaped. He darted contentedly until he arrived at a little wooden house. On the door, a little compartment was unlocked, eyes behind it.

"Password".

Luke yawned.

"Roy, you know it's me, and there aren't any rivals around".

"Ok, ok."

The compartment was shut and the door opened, revealing a 15-year-old red-haired boy with navy jeans and a crimson T-shirt and a girl of 14, wearing the school's uniform, in a pretty comfortable clubhouse.

"I can't believe you still go to those extra classes at weekends, Angel", they both agreed.

"And I can't believe I hang out with YOU!"

But Luke didn't pay attention to her.

"Hey, guys, guess what! Yugi autographed my hand!" Luke finally exclaimed.

But neither one believed him. He then showed his hand to them but there was nothing written there.

"Oh, crud, it must have wiped out after the shower...Anyways, I saw him, I swear! Oh, I almost forgot. Look what my old man sent me."

He then showed the cards to both.

"Wow, you're lucky, I don't even have pocket money to buy a deck," replied Roy.

"I could get you one if I wished to; you know I work some days, too!"

She reached into a handbag she had.

"Oh, wait. Darn, I forgot I had donated to the poor and the homeless…"

Roy thanked Angel for her kindness anyway.

"So now what? Everyone's going to that brand new Duelist Kingdom, so there won't be any tournaments for a loooooong time in here". Roy sighed, grabbing a lemon soda.

"Err.. It's just three days. But I think everyone important is competing."

That gave Luke a real mood swing. "I know, Yugi Muto is going there! If we had a way to get there too, we'd meet him!"

The other two nodded their heads, but Angel hesitated, nevertheless.

"Luke, we'd need a special glove and card to enter the cruiser for Duelist Kingdom, and for your information, we don't have either one."

But no way was he going to surrender that easily.

"Doesn't matter, I'll find a way to get there. I'll call you tonight if I get an idea."

And said this, they bid farewell and they all went home, except for Angel, who headed for their school.

Walking along the street, Luke found something peculiar shining in a bush next to the pavement. It was strange; everything was wet and muddy from yesterday's rain, yet this object was spotlessly clean. He picked it up and found it to be a silver briefcase. But a dog leapt up from the bush and bit the handlebar, and it took a while till he managed to take it away from its fangs.

"Stupid dog...I hate dog-Oh my..." It hit him. This was one of the Duelist Kingdom's suitcases, complete with a dueling glove with 2 stars already, and a card which was to get to the cruiser. A news bulletin had revealed that Pegasus had dropped a few around Domino City, rather like an Easter egg hunt. But suddenly the briefcase was shut and was picked up by a lanky boy with red eyes, spiky charcoal-colored hair. The stranger was wearing a T-shirt which was half-red and half-black, some brown trousers, and a not-very-friendly expression.

"This is MINE!" The boy said, and was about to turn around when Luke replied.

"HEY! I saw it first!"

"Yeah? Well, come to my house tonight, we'll duel for it". Then the boy introduced himself as Tamma.

"W-what? Uhh, ok…But wait, I'm Luke! And how should I know you won't escape with the suitcase?"

Tamma sighed, rolling his eyes.

"I'm not one of those who don't fulfill their promises, ignorant. I'll e-mail you the coordinates of where I live, but think about it: you could skip the humiliation of defeat and let me stay with the briefcase instead!"

"You wish! I never back down from a challenge!"

So Tamma left, and Luke sure did receive that address Tamma had mentioned.

First of all, he three-way-phoned Roy and Angel. He explained what had happened to him when he had reached his house.

"So this means that if you win that duel, we might go to the Dueling Kingdom! Oh yeah!" Roy seemed to be the most enthusiastic of the three.

"Ok, Luke. We'll catch up with you there at night, bye!" Angel said before hanging up.

After a narrow escape from his mother, Luke then met his friends at the foot of the house. Well, it wasn't a house, but an enormous pearl-white mansion.

"You sure you want to go inside, Luke?" Angel always had the habit of making people think twice before doing something, and this wasn't the exception.

They rang the bell near the huge gate, which led to a dazzling, evergreen-decorated park and then the humongous mansion.

Without warning, the gate swung open by itself, and slammed shut once they were inside. They walked through the path surrounded by a gigantic flower garden. Luke was so concentrated in the moves he should play, that he crashed into the golden door.

Angel and Roy sweatdropped while he laid on the ground, a lump on his head and waterfalls coming out of his eyes.

"We warned you, but you didn't pay attention!" Luke was about to snap back when the doors opened, an old man waiting inside.

"Welcome, guests, we've been expecting you. Follow me, Master Tamma has been waiting anxiously".

They followed the butler through many passages filled with creative paintings and modern scultures.

"Wow, this family must be millionaires! I bet this painting is worth my house!"

"What makes you think they're rich?" Luke sniggered sarcastically, earning him a punch from his older friend.

Luke had to prevent Roy from touching everything, and they continued their little trip ("More of an odyssey," muttered Roy) until they reached a dark room.

The man stood beside the door. As soon as they entered the shadows, the butler snapped the door shut.

"Aah! It's a trap! They want to kill us all! Run for your lives!"

And suddenly a light shone, showing a smirking boy on a chair, and it seemed he was Tamma.

"Don't be so stupid! So, you came after all, huh? And did you need to bring your bastardly friends, too?" It was settled. Tamma was the most arrogant guy they had ever known.

"What'd you call me, shit head?" Roy shouted, a vein protruding on his forehead.

"So, where's the table? We're not going to play on the floor, are we?" Luke was very confused when he heard Tamma laughing maliciously.

"Do you think we're going to play like amateurs? We'll duel on this!"

Suddenly the light turned on, and showed a dueling arena, one of the best advances in holographic gaming tecnology.

"B-but how did you get that? The only ones on the world are on Dueling Kingdom!"

"Who said you couldn't buy happiness?"

They both went to each side of the arena and put the decks and stuff in their right position.

"We'll be playing with 4000 Life Points and now..." Tamma said camly, but then yelled:

"LET'S DUEL!"

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Neverclaw: And so, our first chapter has ended! Which cards are those? .> I must know!

Metaldix: Sorry for no action or anything...But that's why there's a second chapter! 'Cause we love cliffies!

Neveclaw: Yeah, if you just knew him better, anyways, hope you enjoy our next chapter!

Metaldix: Yeah, we all know this is a BIT behind the actual series: Dartz, Yugioh GX, etc., but don't worry because we will be writing fast and someday we'll catch up to the final saga. Have no fear!


	2. Chapter 2

Metaldix: Here we are! Back in our secon' chapter!

Neverclaw: And yes, this time there will be more action than last time!

Metaldix: Sorry for not updating, guys!

Neverclaw: I'll be sure to fix that….

**CHAPTER 2:** Duel for Duelist Island

"LET'S DUEL!"

With Roy and Angel shouting words of encouragement to Luke, the duel had started.

"As I'm the visitor, I'll start by summoning my Warrior Dai Grepher (1700ATK/1600DEF) and three face-down cards! That wasn't bad, huh?"

Roy got overexcited. He gawked in amazement as a brawny warrior hologram emerged onto the field. "I CAN'T WAIT TO PLAY ON ONE OF THOSE!"

"Heh. Beginners. I place the Polymerization magic card!"

A gaping hole ripped open in the dimensional rift, blowing out a pleasantly warm air.

Tamma smirked.

"It lets me fuse monsters to form a stronger one. Now, I'll fuse my Flame Manipulator (900ATK/1000DEF) and Masaki the Legendary Swordsman (1100ATK/1100DEF) to summon my Flame Swordsman (1800ATK/1600DEF)!"

A man with a flame ball on his hand and a menacing samurai were absorbed by the wormhole, and a red-clad warrior was spat out.

"And I'll equip him with the Fusion Sword Murasame Blade to increase his attack by 800! Then, here's another equip card! Sword of the Deep-Seated! It enhances him with 500 extra attack and defense points!"

The swordsman then replaced his own blazing sword with an evil-looking one, and grabbed an extra blade, a huge katana.

"Now, attack his puny mortal with Dual Blade Blaze!"

The Flame Swordsman advanced, covered in embers produced by his weapons. His swords were inches from Warrior Dai Grepher's neck when Luke chuckled.

"No way, dude! I activate my Trap card, Negate Attack! This cancels your attack AND Battle Phase!"

–Ok, I'm in serious trouble. I've never summoned a monster with such high attack strength; much less destroyed one! But if win, maybe I'll have the opportunity to talk Yugi again…- Luke thought.

The pressure he felt was immense. He was lucky to have he come with his friends. They eased the weight on his shoulders.

"Luke, you can do it!" Both Roy and Angel shouted.

–I can't let them down… C'mon…yes! –

He had drawn the needed card.

"Starting with a strong monster? Bad luck, because if you attack this card, you'll be ruined." Luke started, Set summoning a monster.

The outline of a card was materialized out of nowhere.

"And now, a little trick of mine! I use Double Spell! By discarding one magic card from my hand, I can choose one magic card in your Graveyard and activate it. Tell me, Tamma. Which is the only magic card in your Graveyard?" Luke was smirking now.

"Polymerization…" Tamma spat.

"Exactly," Luke replied, promptly discarding the spell card A Hero Returning Alive, and then the familiar hole reappeared.

"Then, I'll fuse my Spirit Ryu (1000ATK/1000DEF) coming from my hand with my Warrior Dai Grepher, to form the great Ryu Senshi (2000ATK/1200DEF)!"

His tough-looking warrior and a dragon soul that came from his hand both flew into the black hole and a dragon-human hybrid surfaced from the arena.

"I hope Luke has a plan! His beast is no match for Tamma's superior Flame Swordsman!"

Although his beast was no match for Tamma's superior Flame Swordsman, he _did _have a plan. ((Neverclaw and Metaldix: X.x was that necessary?))

"So, since I believe your turn has ended, I summon my Blazing Inpachi (1850ATK/0EF) and put a face-down card!"

A wooden robot on fire stomped onto the field, adding even more heat to the situation, literally.

"Man, don't you know that Fire monsters are only for REAL duelists?" Roy asked.

"I'll take that as a compliment, since I AM a real duelist. And now, Flame Swordsman, ASSAULT HIS RYU SENSHI!"

The swordsman was about to attack, when he suddenly seemed to change his opinion of the situation and attacked Luke's face-down monster.

"WHAT THE HELL? I ordered my warrior to attack your other monster!"

"That's true, but I've just activated my Trap card, Shift! This will change your attack target!" Luke said with a big smile, knowing what Tamma was attacking…

The Flame Swordsman sliced through Luke's face-down creature.

"OH! TOO BAD! You've, or better said, _I've_ just activated the flip effect of my Mysterious Guard (800ATK/1200DEF)!"

Tamma grimaced. "Not good…"

"Oh yeah! This nifty card can return one monster to the top of your deck! And I choose your Flame Swordsman! By the way, his equip cards are destroyed, since they aren't equipped to anyone!"

Luke stopped for breath. "But that's not all! As there is a Warrior-type monster on my side of the field, Ryu Senshi, I can return one more monster to your hand, so say later to your Blazing Inpachi!"

"Bastard…"

A man in purple robes, being stabbed in his chest by the Flame Swordsman, got livid and tossed his attacker at Blazing Inpachi, so they got sent to the top of Tamma's deck and his hand respectively.

"And by the way, since Flame Swordsman is a Fusion monster, he can't be in your Deck, so he'll be sent to your Graveyard. So, end your turn?" Luke smirked.

"Your turn, shitface."

The competitors both had untouched Life Points, both counters at 4000. But Tamma stood with one measly face-down card, while Luke marshaled his Ryu Senshi and one face-down.

"Yes! I know Luke's gonna win, Tamma doesn't have any monsters to protect his Life Points!"

Luke appreciated what their friends were doing, they giving even him hope.

–It seems that Tamma has mastered Fire monsters, and concentrates on their attack more than on their defense…-

"Ok, Tamma, now that it's my turn, I'll summon my Double Coston (1750ATK/1650DEF). Now I'll activate Ultimate Offering! By paying 500 Life Points, I'm allowed an extra Normal Summon or Set! Thanks to their effect, I can treat Double Coston like two monsters instead of one when I Tribute them to summon a Dark monster, and so I'll sacrifice them to form, my Serpent Night Dragon (2350ATK/2500DEF)! Now my monsters… finish this duel by attacking directly!"

Luke's Life Points dropped to 3500 even as his monsters charged at Tamma.

Serpent Knight Dragon reached Tamma first, and wrapped it self around Tamma.

"Not so fast, Luke. I activate my Enchanted Javelin! This increases my Life Points by the Attack of the attacking monster! So basically, I get no damage at all. Sorry, it seems you'll have to wait a little bit".

A spear floated down into Tamma's hand. He pried off the beast, relieving his Life Points back to a full 4000.

"Oh well. Ryu Senshi, continue! Dragon Blade!"

The fusion slashed at Tamma, who's Life Points plummeted down to 2000.

Tamma then drew. "Now, to heat things up, I'll use Raigeki! This card will destroy your monsters with no exception!"

All of a sudden some lightning bolts raced down from the cybernetic ceiling and fried Luke's beings into ashes.

"Shit! That's a powerful card!" Roy gasped when he saw the bolts crashing against Luke's monsters.

"Things are going to be much different from now on. I activate Re-Fusion! At the cost of 800 Life Points, I can Special Summon a Fusion Monster from my Graveyard in Attack Position! So, how about my Flame Swordsman?"

The familiar warrior emerged back on to the field in a burst of red flame even as Tamma smirked evilly while his Life Points lowered to 1200.

"Then, I'll sacrifice him to form Thestalos, the Firestorm Monarch (2400ATK/1000DEF)!"

The Flame Swordsman exploded in vivid embers, and transformed into a giant titan covered in white armor that glowed a scary red.

"And now that I've Tribute Summoned him successfully, I can activate his effect! By randomly selecting one card from your hand, if it's a monster, you'll get Direct Damage equal to the level of the monster times 100 AND it gets discarded! I select the far left card in your hand!"

Luke frowned. It was a Level 2 monster, Sasuke Samurai. The card was sent to the Graveyard and Thestalos blew fire at Luke, whose Life Points dropped to 3300. "And I'll finish my turn with these two face-down cards!"-I hate to do this…But that asshole has a face-down card, and until now they have costed me a lot of troubles, so I'll just end my turn…-

Tamma stood behind with 1200 Life Points, but he had Thestalos and two face-down cards on the field. Luke, on the other hand, though he had 3300 Life Points, he had but a face-down card on the field.

"My turn, I summon my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (1400 ATK/1200 DEF) in attack position, and equip him with Horn of Unicorn, increasing his ATK and DEF with 700(2100ATK/1900DEF)."

An elfish warrior appeared on the field, sword at ready.

"Good thing is he can't be destroyed by monsters of 1900 or higher. Bad news is I still receive Battle Damage. Now, here's my face-down! Graceful Dice! This nifty card increases the attack and defense of my monsters by 100 times the number I roll! So, here goes!"

-Dammit! That wasn't even a trap card! That fool is going to regret it…I won't let him trick me anymore!- Tamma growled as a holographic die tumbled on the field, rolling and rolling. Both duelists stared at it anxiously.

"Please….4 or more…" Angel begged.

"Please….3 or less…" Tamma muttered.

And the die stopped, on its face a large six!

"Oh yeah! Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, make mincemeat out of that Thestalos!"

After this, Tamma laughed. His cold laugh became a cackle that made Luke shiver.

"Too bad! I activate my face-down card, Spiritual Fire Art- Kurenai. It will inflict Direct Damage equal to the attack of a Fire monster I tribute! 2400 less Life Points for you, 'cause I offer my Thestalos as a tribute!"

Then, Luke felt as if his skin was melting when Thestalos stabbed him with all his might. He was left with just 900 Life Points.

"But wait! There's even worse in store, because I also activate Raigeki Break! By discarding one card, I can destroy 1 card on the field! So say good-bye to your wuss of a monster!"

Yet another lightning bolt struck the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian and left him sizzling and lifeless, while Tamma discarded one card.

"No, Luke is in trouble! Don't give up Luke, you can do it!" The girl shouted.

"I'll end my turn…" Luke said in a low tone.

"If Tamma has a monster, it's all over for Luke…" Roy acknowledged.

Everyone watched intently as Tamma placed his hand on the card. He picked up the card, and grinned.

Luke gulped. "Uh-oh…"

Metaldix: OH NO! What will happen next time?

Neverclaw: MWAHAHA! CLIFFIE FOR YOU, PEOPLE!

Metaldix: Keep tuned for more Duelist Chronicles!

Neverclaw: And don't forget to leave your reviews before you go!


	3. Chapter 3

Metaldix: Hello, Yu-gi-oh fans! Since Neverclaw somehow couldn't come, well, I'll just skip to the chapter, ok? Here we go!

Disclaimer: (OMG! W3 lyk da N07 0wN YuGi0h Chrct3r$!1one11!)

**Chapter 3:** The Scorching End

The two duelists glared at each other. The tension was spreading to Angel and even Roy.

Luke was behind with 900 Life Points, and it was Tamma's turn. No player had anything whatsoever in the field, except Luke, who had a face-down card in his magic/trap slot. Tamma, with 1200 Life Points seemed to have drawn the card he needed.

"You fought well, but it seems I'm the better duelist, Luke!" Tamma swaggered.

"I summon Fox Fire (300ATK/200DEF)!"

A little fox with a glowing tail crawled out of the card.

"IT'S SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CUUUUTE!" Angel squealed, while Roy rolled his eyes.

"Cute as it may be, it's finishing Luke off, because I'll equip it with Salamandra! It increases a Fire monster's attack by 700!"

The fox increased in size, its attack boosted to 1000.

"FINISH LUKE WITH FLAME WHEEL!"

The fox curled up into a blazing ball and hurdled itself towards a rather unperturbed Luke.

"Not so fast! I activate Curse of Aging! By discarding one card from my hand, I can decrease the Attack and Defense of all the monsters on your side of the field by 500!"

The fox suddenly grew extremely old and frail, its attack now 500. It nevertheless burned Luke, whose Life Points dropped to 400.

"Next turn, Luke. Next turn you lose." Tamma threatened roughly.

"Or not." Luke replied. –This might work….-

"I'll set one card in Defense Position!"

A holographic card loomed on the field, the monster a mystery.

"Now, I place one card face-down and end my turn."

Fox Fire heaved a sigh as its youth returned.

Tamma gulped. –Damn! That face-down card might have an effect, or worse, more than enough defense to knock out my Life Points!-

"I'll take the risk. I summon Darkfire Soldier #2 (1700ATK/1100DEF)"

At this, there was an explosion, from which an armored warrior came out, his face menacing and is weapon deadly-looking.

"I'll put down a nice secret card, and…Darkfire Soldier #2! Exterminate that face-down with Heat Cutter!."

"And our mystery card is…."

The hologram turned up to become a blue-skinned girl kneeling down to indicate Defense Mode, much to Tamma's frustration, for a backlash knocked him to the ground.

"What the…!"

"Fun? Yes, this is fun. You should have seen your look of supreme disappointment."

Luke grinned, for the hidden monster was Mystical Elf (800 ATK/ 2000 DEF).

"Fine, I couldn't fulfill a promise, so what?" Tamma snarled while getting up, his Life Points now 900. He then smirked. "I activate Nightmare Steelcage!"

Luke uttered a swear word that if posted might endanger our fan fiction, put nicely.

-Shit! He just put my plan out of its misery! What the…- While Luke and his friend gazed in awe at the semi-circle-shaped cage that surrounded the field, Tamma chuckled.

"Amazed, are we? Well, you know what this does. It stops us from attacking for 2 whole turns!"

"Shoot!"

"Well…Let's see how well you can do."

Luke drew, and with the card came a chuckle.

-Thanks, Dad…-

"I now summon my toughest monster! Armed Dragon Lv. 3 (1200 ATK/ 900 DEF)!"

An orange little lizard appeared, flexing its muscles and trying to look cool.

"That's your best monster? How the hell have you endured up to now?" Tamma sneered.

Luke ignored him, while Roy shouted inappropriate words. "I'll also play the Magic card Dimensionhole!"

There was huge earsplitting noise that showed a breach between their dimension and another, a gaping hole that tried to suck everything in. Yet the only monster it took was Armed Dragon Lv. 3.

"Allow me to explain. Dimensionhole lets me remove one monster one my side of the field from play until my next Standby Phase. Now, for the Magic card Mystical Space Typhoon!" Luke beamed as fierce winds started blowing, until a gigantic hurricane was struggling to move about the room. "As you should know, this nifty number allows me to destroy one Magic or Trap card. So say 'hasta la vista' to your Nightmare Steelcage!"

"No way! I'll counter that with Magic Jammer! By discarding one card from my hand, I can negate and destroy a Magic card!"

The storm whirled towards Tamma's blades of light, but an enchanting circle shone up from the ground, immobilizing the typhoon in its tracks.

"Shoot! This isn't good…Your turn."

Now, the stats were like this: Tamma was in the lead with 900 LP, he had his Fox Fire, equipped with Salamandra boosting its ATK; and Dakfire soldier, both monsters in ATK mode On the other side of the field, Luke had 400 LP, and his Mystical Elf in ATK mode. The Nightmare Steelcage which Tamma had used was still active.

Meanwhile, in an alternate universe, writers Neverclaw and Metaldix were glued to the computer screen.

"Mmmm…Should Tamma have this card?"

"Nah…"

When all of a sudden, a sound so powerful that the ceiling shook pierced their ears.

An unknown hole from another dimension spat out a tiny orange dragon, which growled since it was veeeeeeery hungry.

"Cool! It's a real Armed Dragon Lv. 3! Do you think it'll sign my own Armed Dragon Lv. 3 card?" Neverclaw reached forward, card in hand.

The reptile roared and chased our heroes around, trying to chomp their arms off.

Errrr….Right.

Tamma's turn. Tamma drew a card, the usual smirk back on his face.

"Heh, I'll use Monster Reborn! It lets me Special Summon a monster from my Graveyard! And I choose my Molten Zombie (1600 ATK/ 400 DEF)!"

Angel was flustered. "Hey! Where did that monster come from?"

"I discarded it when I activated Magic Jammer, remember, rookie?" Tamma explained with a superior air.

A zombie made of flames rose from the ground, making Angel look away in disgust.

"Anyways," Tamma continued, "When Special Summoned, Molten Zombie can let me draw 1 card."

The undead creature sent a wave of heat that moved a card from Tamma's deck to his hand, while the trio looked on grimly.

"Perfect! I'll remove my Flame Swordsman from play to Special Summon my Inferno (1100 ATK/ 1900 DEF)!"

Then, to the others' surprise, the heat from the zombie's power got together and exploded in flames, creating a beast of blazes!

"Now, for my most powerful warrior! MY ULTIMATE BASEBALL KID (500 ATK/ 1000 DEF)!" A uniformed kid with a baseball bat and fiery eyes stepped out menacingly.

"And you said my Armed Dragon Lv. 3 was weak!"

Suddenly, the baseballer's attack shot up to 4500!

"Heh. His Attack is increased by 1000 for each Fire monster on the field other than himself. Now, I end my turn. Think you can beat me? You can surrender, you know, to save up the humiliation."

"No way! My future and my friends' is depending on this duel…" Luke replied coldly.

"Too bad, because you and your friends are going nowhere! C'mon, Ultimate Baseball kid, destroy the Mystical Elf with your Infernal Homerun!" Tamma yelled, and his tiny monster hit a baseball ball with all its might, so powerful that it was engulfed in flames, destroying the Mystical Elf in thousand pieces.

"Holy shit…If that monster wasn't in ATK mode, Luke would have lost for sure! He can't risk taking another of those attack!" Roy said with eyes widened.

"Glad you noticed, idiot. Now, before ending my turn, I'll pass my Fox Fire and Inferno to DEF position." And just as Tamma said, the little fox curled, making a DEF position, and the giant flame ball just turned its back against Luke.

Both players' LP were the same as before: Tamma with 900 and Luke with some mere 400. On Tamma's side of the field, was the Ultimate Baseball Kid, with an ATK boosted by Fox Fire, equipped with Salamandra, Dark Fire soldier, Molten Zombie and Inferno. The first and last monste were in DEF position, while the other two were ready to receive attack orders. His Nightmare Steelcage Magic card, would only last Luke's next turn. Luke, had his Armed dragon Lv. 3 removed from the game until his next turn, by the effect of his Dimensional Hole. Apart from that, he had nothing on the field.

Tamma's eyes narrowed. –That Dimensional Hole…Besides removing a monsterfrom the field, it also protects the user's LP, as the monster zard zone is occupied by that same monster, even though it's not here. If it wasn't for that acrd, I could already won this duel…-

Luke's eyes also narrowed as he was about to draw. –Let's see… Yugi told me to believe in the heart of the cards back at that tournament…Wonder what was he talking about, though…Anyways, I shall try, so that I will! Heart of the cards…Help me!-

"Oh yeah, baby!" He whooped. "Time to end this! Don't forget, my Armed Dragon Lvl. 3 is coming back! But, in my Standby Phase, I can Tribute it to Special Summon my stronger Armed Dragon Lvl. 5 (2400 ATK/ 1700 DEF)!"

In an alternate dimension, Metaldix and Neverclaw were barely surviving the dragon's assault when suddenly, in a flash of light, it vanished.

"We were saved! Thank you, oh justice!"

Back to the duel, the orange-and-grey dragon reappeared, but as soon as it touched the ground, it shone brightly.

Angel and Roy looked away, Tamma squinted and Luke smirked.

The baby grew quickly into a muscular black-and-red dragon covered in spikes that blew smoke out of its nostrils. Its yellow eyes bore into Tamma's red ones.

"And as if my big bad dragon wasn't bad enough, he's gonna evolve once more!"

"How?" Tamma shot back, a smug expression on his face.

"With _this_ card! Level Up! I can send one monster with 'Lv' in its name to the Graveyard to Special Summon its evolution, without having to meet the conditions! So, give a warm welcome to my Armed Dragon Lv. 7 (2800 ATK/ 1000 DEF)!"

At this, a gigantic dragon with steel plates and blades and horns protruding here and there about its red and black scales broke out of the previous beast, roaring so much that the ceiling shook.

"Now, my face-down card! De-spell!"

"This, as you probably know, allows me to destroy one Magic card on the field! And I choose your Nightmare Steelcage!"

At this, a giant lock on the cage made a funny noise and broke into pieces. Then, the whole cage fell apart, its parts disappearing as they touched the ground.

"My warriors are still standing strong, loser!"

"Yeah? Well, now it's time for my Armed Dragon Lv. 7 to show you his special ability! By discarding one monster from my hand, I can destroy all the monsters on your side of the field that have lower Attack than it!" Here he showed Gaia, the Fierce Knight (2300 ATK/ 2100 DEF), which he sent to the Graveyard.

"Now, Armed Dragon Lv. 7 can destroy all your monsters except Ultimate Baseball Kid! So, Armed Dragon! Spike Storm!"

And so, the spiked lizard span and span, launching a hail of needles that annihilated every one of Tamma's monsters with the exception of Ultimate Baseball Kid, who was protected with his helmet.

"Heh, but I still have the awesome force of my Ultimate Baseball Kid!"

"Look closely, Tamma!"

The kid stood weaker than before, his smirk now a grimace.

"….shit…you…you destroyed my monsters, so now he's back to 500!" And Tamma was right, as now the Ultimate Baseball Kid's ATK had decreased drastically to its original 500 ATK points!

Luke nodded. "Sorry, but this duel's over! Armed Dragon Lv. 7, attack with Armed-geddon!"

The mighty dragon charged a beam in its mouth, a bright light shining, until the shine blinded them momentarily as they looked away. There was a huge explosion as the reptile let go of its energy blast and hurtled it towards a cowered Ultimate Baseball Kid.

Tamma turned red with anger as his Life Points dropped to 0. "I CAN'T HAVE LOST AGAINST A ROOKIE!" He cried in frustration.

"Better believe it," Luke replied, amidst Roy and Angel's shouts of joy, "'cause a deal's a deal."

Luke, Roy and Angel were now leaving the mansion with the briefcase, after the duel. They were crossing the gardens towards the gate when…

"Hey, losers!" Tamma yelled from his front door.

"Geez…That bastard keeps on insulting us after you kicked his ass, what manners…" Roy sighed, turning with his friends to hear the boy's words.

"We will meet again, Luke! And next time, I'll defeat you!" Tamma kept yelling, and a smile formed in Luke's face in a blink of an eye.

"Well then, I'll look forward to seeing you. Until then, see ya!" He shouted, haggard with anticipation, just as he and his friends exited the gate.

Neverclaw: Hello fans! Hope you liked the chapter! And now…Our heroes will head towards Duelist Kingdom, with adventures awaiting for them!

Metaldix: Where WERE you?

Neverclaw: What? Can't a guy play Neopets?

Metaldix: No more Neopets for you! –Cuts off Neverclaw's Internet-

Neverclaw: HEY!


	4. Chapter 4

(DISCLAIMER: We do not own Yugioh, any of its original characters, etc.)

**CHAPTER 4:** Towards Duelist Kingdom!

The morning was great for the trio, but especially for Luke. He was so anxious that only thinking about going to go to Duelist Kingdom, he nearly fell from his bed.

He packed everything: from sleeping bags and food to the whole bag of cards he had, some were false ones but didn't matter to him, at least they were cards and made him feel comfortable. When at last it was 8:30 pm, he went downstairs. Time to face the great barrier. "Mom, I'm gonna stay over at Roy's." Luke reached for the doorknob.

"When are you coming back?" His mother raised an eyebrow.

No reply. He had already escaped.

He ran as fast as he could, and when he reached the port where the cruiser was, there was plenty of time left. He looked for Roy and Angel, who were behind some boxes hiding from the guards, who would expel you from the place if you weren't a selected duelist.

"I told my dad I was going to your house, Luke". Roy whispered as Luke approached.

"You idiot! I told my mom I was going to your house!" Luke sighed.

"Doesn't matter, what about you, Angel?"

"Well, I left a letter telling my dad I went camping with my grandpa," she said.

"Anyways, as you two can't enter the cruiser, you'll hide behind some boxes like you're doing now, but you have to be sure that they'll go to the cruiser! You'd better be careful; you could end up in Africa!"

The plan was settled. At nine o'clock, Luke got on the ship as a normal duelist would do, while his friends...

"Who are you guys? This is our hideout, get your own!" Said a tall boy with a strange hair cut, while a girl with brown hair tried to make a pile of boxes for no one to see them.

"Tristan!" She looked menacingly at him.

"I'm sorry for his rudeness. I'm Tea and he is Tristan, we both are here to cheer for some friends. Joey had better be ready..." The girl murmured.

"Joey? That name sounds familiar...Didn't Luke tell us something about a certain Joey, Angel?" Roy asked Angel, but she shook her head.

"Oops! Sorry, I'm Anne and he is Roy, we are also here for a friend!" She said.

"Ok, be quiet! They are carrying the boxes! If they discover us, we're out!" Tristan warned. A crane lifted them up on the right ship, where they waved hands and set off to meet their respective duelist.

Luke, meanwhile, searched the deck for his friends. –Where ARE you guys?-

Suddenly, he spotted Roy's red hair, and sprinted towards them, when he tripped and fell at their feet.

"I've been looking for you, where have you been? I thought you were going way to Africa!" Luke grumbled as Roy helped him up.

"Ah, don't worry, Luke. We met some guys who were going to cheer for a boy called 'Joey', but they didn't tell us the other one's name".

Suddenly after that comment, Luke went pale. "WHAT! Joey? You mean, Joey Wheeler! That guy is Yugi Muto's best friend, oh Lord, why did you give me such a bad luck? No, wait! That means Yugi must be somewhere this cruiser! C'mon, we can't waste time!"

And Luke started running frantically all around the ship, trying to find his idol.

"Me and my big mouth..."

Hours later, when everybody was in their beds, Luke couldn't sleep, and decided to take some fresh air in the starboard side of the ship. That was when he heard some steps coming towards him. Roy and Angel.

"Can't sleep? Neither can we…" Angel spoke in a low voice.

Luke was about to tell them where to go when the ship had arrived at island, when all of a sudden there was a SPLASH!

Someone had fallen into the water, and there were some yells.

"Joey, no! Come back!"

Luke immediately recognized that voice, Yugi. He turned and saw that spiky-haired boy, yelling as a boy with beetle-framed glasses laughed.

-He must be Weevil Underwood, I saw something about him on TV...But why is he laughing like that?-

"Look! A boy is down there picking some cards from the water, he is mad!" Roy exclaimed, but Luke had already jumped too!

It was all dark as he dived, feeling the coldest substance covering his body and clothes. He drank too much water, but he managed to pick two of those cards Joey seemed to be collecting: The Right Leg of the Forbidden one and the Right Arm of the Forbidden One.

–What the…! These cards are one of the most powerful ones, and if I remember correctly, they belong to Yugi! His friend must have been trying to recover these, Yugi's most powerful cards: the five Exodia pieces!-

Although he saw Joey returning to the ship as a lifebelt was thrown, he didn't give up. But he then saw another lifebelt falling just besides him, and a rope was tied from it to Angel's hand.

"Luke! Grab the lifebelt!" She shouted as Luke obeyed.

When he could get out, he found in his hand the Right Leg of the Forbidden One, and in his mouth the Right Arm of the Forbidden one!

"Too bad, I only got three pieces, Yugi," said Wheeler from the other side of the hall, meaning Luke had grabbed the other two!

He saw Yugi, Joey, Tea and Tristan on the other side of the ship and Luke then started to run towards them while they turned to go to their bedrooms.

"Yugi! Yugi! I got the other two!" He saw Muto closer, closer and closer when...He tripped. He felt something against his leg just before he fell. Someone had tripped Luke, and it wasn't by accident.

When he looked up, the group wasn't there, Roy and Angel were approaching, and there was someone in front laughing at him. As his vision got clearer, he saw a short milky-white teen with dark trousers, green jacket and huge blond hair.

"Ha, now Underwood owez me five buckz! Now that Yugi Muto doezn't have the Exodia piecez, he will be an eazy target!"

Said the boy as Roy and Angel entered in scene.

"You...! It doesn't matter, I'll just find Yugi and I'll deal with you later!" Luke challenged, but the creepo interrupted.

"I don't think that will be pozzible…You zee, az we zpeak, that Muto and hiz friendz are on the other zide of thiz zhip!" The stranger laughed in the exact same tone as Weevil.

"Right. How the hell did they do that in such a short time?" Roy replied with fury.

"My friend…Onze more, az we zpeak, they're getting further and further away…"

"But we will catch up with them! Who are you, and why did you do that to Luke?" Angel demanded.

–Geez…She's right, what we need to know now is who this creep is, we'll later find Yugi and deliver these cards…- Luke said to himself and put the precious cards in his hand into his right pocket.

"Ha! I waz waiting for you to zay that! Cuz I'm the greatezt duelist, Zparks Shocker!" He said proudly when he mentioned his name.

–Duelist, eh? Well, although it may sound risky, I'll do it! For you, Roy…Besides, this bastard deserves a lesson!-

And as soon as this thought finished, Luke spoke up.

"If you're a duelist, then duel me! Plus, I'll add a bet to this…The one who defeats the other will get his opponent's deck AND his duelist glove!"

Everyone was SHOCKED (Duh! Get it?) when they heard this.

"WHAT? Have you gone nuts, dude?" Roy checked to see if he was alright.

But Angel, she then suddenly remembered one thing Roy had said back in the wooden house.

"_I don't even have money to buy a deck"_.

–Could it be…That Luke, is trying to…-

"Ok! Challenge aczepted. There'z no way a guy like you will beat me! I'll get a new deck, and I'll zee if I can put one of those cardz in my glorious deck!" Zparks cackled maniacally. "Which I highly doubt, of courze…" The 15-year old added.

"Luke, are you serious about this? You can lose your DECK, including the cards your dad gave you!" Roy said, trying to convince his friend, but it was useless.

"As soon as the ship reaches Duelist Island, you are going DOWN!" Luke said firmly, looking straight at his next opponent.

"I don't think zo…Of course, you know the zpecial rulez, don't you?" Zparks chuckled, now turning away without saying anything else.

"Special…Rules?" Angel raised an eyebrow, puzzled. "What did he mean with that, Luke?"

"I don't know Angel, I don't know…"

Neverclaw: Yes, another cliffie! WHY HAS LUKE BET HIS DECK AND DUELIST GLOVE?

Metaldix: --'' I think it's kinda obvious…

Neverclaw: WHY HAVEN'T WE SAID A THING AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CHAPTER?

Metaldix: Because from now on, people, we will only say things at the end of the chapter.

Neverclaw: WHY DID WE NAME ZPARKS WITH AN 'S' IN THE FINAL IF HE ONLY PRONUNCIATES Zs?

Metaldix: X.x Okaaaaaay…

Neverclaw: WILL THE OUTCOME OF THE SECOND DUEL IN DUELIST CHRONICLES BE GOOD…OR…BAAAAD?

Metaldix: ENOUGH! People, please review, and then, read anxiously the next chapter of Duelist Chronicles!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Shocking Experience

They all went back to their bedrooms, still thinking about the following day, when they fell asleep...

"MORNIIIIING! WAKE UP, LUKE!" Angel shouted at him in his ear.

"HOLY MOTHER OF! Angel! Don't scream in my ear like that!" He groaned, getting up. It was a sunny day, cloudless, not cold or hot, just a normal, pleasant day. But it was time for a duel. The trio was forced off the luxurious cruiser by huge men in black suits, and by consequence they went straight down to the safe land.

There, Luke spotted Yugi and company to the left, and to the right, Sparks, or Zparks. The way he pronounced it, no one would ever know.

Yugi seemed to be following Weevil, but Luke turned to face Zparks, (We'll call him that.) who was running towards the skyline.

"Hey, wait, you shit!"

Luke, Roy and Angel hardly kept up with him as they approached a strange abandoned building. It had broken windows and DANGER signs all over the place. It was basically falling apart, and gave off an electrifying air of adrenaline.

The trio entered, Angel shivering.

"What kind of creep would want to duel in a place that's about to collapse in any second?" Angel complained after moving around in the maze of a place inside.

"That creep!" Roy shouted, pointing at Zparks' retreating back.

There, after going up some rickety stairs, they met Zparks. There he was, standing quite surely in a yellow dueling arena.

"Zo, you came after all? Prepare to meet your doom, lozer!" He yelled as Luke stood in his right place.

"Stop yapping and let's go for the gold!" Luke said with Roy and Angel watching down there. Luke's first duel in dueling kingdom was about to begin, but...Were there some special rules? Didn't he miss something? He would soon find out...

"Let uz flip for it. I call headz!" And so, a holographic coin appeared on the field. It flipped, and flipped and flipped, turning, turning. Tails.

"Ok, looks as though I'll start this duel! I summon a face-down defense position monster!" Luke said, daring to think about the consequences if he lost. A card silhouette rose onto the field, signaling a face-down monster.

Both duelists had their counters at 2000.

"Yo, are the counters broken? It's 4000 Life Points, not 2000!"

"That'z one of the rulez! Here, we play with only 2000 Life Pointz! Ha, on with my turn. I zummon my Tripwire beazt (1200ATK/1300DEF)!

Suddenly, a little green electricity-ridden dinosaur materialized, and its stats shot up to 1700 and 1800 respectively!

"Huh?"

"Now! Attack hiz faze-down monzter!" Zparks yelled as his creature shot electromagnetic waves destroying face-down Luke's Dark Blade (1800ATK/1500 DEF).

"Now, a faze-down card and your turn!"

–Strange, I thought Tripwire beast had 1200 ATK and 1300 DEF, am I wrong or there is something this guy isn't telling me?- He thought.

"Doesn't matter, because I summon Warrior Dai Grepher (1700ATK/1600DEF) and I equip him with my Big Bang Shot to increase his attack by 400!"

Luke's signature muscle-bound warrior appeared, his sword suddenly glowing red as his attack grew to 2100.

"Say good-bye to your Trip—"

"--Zzzucker! You won't deztroy him 'cuz I activated my trap card: Thunder of Ruler! Zinze I activated it during your Ztandby Phase, you can't attack for now!" At this, a cage of lighting surrounded Luke's bulky warrior, disabling his attack.

"Fine. I set a face-down card. Your turn, Zparks." Luke grumbled.

The blond maniac drew a card, smiling widely.

"Az it's my turn, I'll discard one card to equip my Tripwire Beast with the magic of Twin Zwords of Flashing Light!"

Zparks smirked, discarding his designated card as his monster produced two swords out of nowhere, and wielded them, standing on two legs. But Luke was puzzled to see its attack drop back to 1200!

"Explain yourself, Zparks!"

"Well, you zee, Twin Zwords of Flashing Light weakenz my monzter'z attack by 500, but in exchange, it can attack twize! I can also Zpecial Zummon my Guardian Tryze (1900ATK/ 1700DEF)!" Zparks said excitedly. A warrior with a strange, lightning-like aura appeared, chuckling as its stats touched the sky, leaving him with 2400 attack points and 2200 defense points.

Luke blew a fuse.

"What's WITH all these stat boosts?!? Is there something you're not telling me, Zparks?!?" He asked in rage, and to his surprise, Zparks started laughing like a mad.

"Don't you know the rulez? Oh my God, you're pathetic! Don't you know where we are?"

Luke then stared around. There were many cables, power boxes, machines, and sparks…

"A power plant!" He was right. The moment they entered, they didn't realize they were in a power plant, an abandoned one.

"And for your information, this island haz millions of ecozyztemz around; they give a bonuz of 500 attack and defenze for the correct monzter type. And zince we are in a power plant…" Zparks grinned.

"…Thunder-type monsters get stronger!" Roy said.

"That's why his monsters are all pumped up!" Angel continued.

"Dai Grepher's still the stronge…Wait a sec…" Luke gulped.

"I've juzt beaten you in two turnz, you amateur!" Zparks said evilly.

"It's not over till the fat lady sings!" Luke objected.

"Zo, I'll forze her to zing! Attack, my Guardian Tryze! Thunder Blitz!" Tryce leapt over Dai Grepher and was about to electrocute him from behind when…

"No way! I activate the Trap card, Curse of Aging! By discarding one card, your monsters get 500 Attack and Defense taken away from them!"

"NOOO!" Zparks bellowed.

Guardian Tryce and Tripwire Beast became more wrinkled and aged, until they were ancient monsters, weaker by 500 points. That left them at 1900 and 800 Attack points respectively!

Warrior Dai Grepher turned to his older opponent and slashed its head off with a swipe of his sword. This action produced a serious backlash, powerful enough to knock Zparks over as his Life Points were at 1800. He got up, furious.

"I plaze one faze-down, zwitch my Tripwire Beazt into Defenze Pozition, and end my turn…"

-Shit! I can't believe thiz azzhole iz beating me!-

"It's my turn! I activate Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw 2 more cards!" A huge, painted vase with a malicious face sucked in two cards from Luke's deck and spat them into his hand.

"Now, I summon my destructive Luster Dragon #2 (2400ATK/2100DEF)! Come forth, my legend!"

The arena's ground seemed to crack open, making everyone except Luke swear. Yes, Angel, too. And from the crevice emerged an enormous emerald, glimmering from the sparks in the background. It exploded, sending shards flying everywhere, and in its place was a ferocious-looking yet beautiful emerald dragon.

Luke couldn't help but laugh at everyone's faces.

"Impressed? I also put this face-down card. Luster Dragon #2, attack Tripwire Beast with Emerald Headbutt!" Luke ordered as his dragon lowered its head and charged towards the beast, utterly razing it.

"Now, Dai Grepher, attack directly with Dragon Sword Dash!"

"I don't think zo. Go, Waboku! This negates any damage done to me during this turn!"

"Grrr..Guess I can only end my turn with a face-down…"

"You juzt fell into my trap! I'm zure you uzed your bezt monzters to attack, didn't you? Now I activate my Lightning Vortex! At the cozt of one card from my hand, all your monzterz are deztroyed!" Zparks grinned.

All of a sudden though, a spiral opened up in the way between the emerald reptile and the electric dinosaur. Luster Dragon #2 flew away from it desperately, only to be fried by the high voltage. But the vortex now drew nearer Warrior Dai Grepher, shocking him to death, leaving only burnt ashes.

"You'll pay, Zparks!" Roy threatened from the sidelines.

"Thank you, but thiz muzt come to an end! I zummon my mozt powerful card, the Creator (2300ATK/3000DEF)!"

At his words, a murky thundercloud seeped in through the broken windows, covering the entire field in a dim fog.

"What's going on?!? I can't see a thing!" Roy cried, when suddenly lightning flashed. There was the sound of rumbling thunder, when a huge burst of electrical charge blew the cloud away.

"Too..bright.." Indeed, they all turned away from the intense light.

When it was over, Zparks hooted evilly. An enormous golden holy-looking being stood on the field, its body giving off static as its stats grew to 2800 and 3500 respectively.

"And I alzo uze hiz effect: I may dizcard one card from my hand to bring one monzter back from the Graveyard! Come, Tripwire Beast!" He said as the giant raised his hand, shocking the ground and reviving the familiar beast.

So the tides were like this. Luke had 2000 life points and but 1 face-down card, while Zparks had The Creator(2800 ATK/3500 DEF) and Tripwire Beast(1700 ATK/1800 DEF) both in Attack Mode.

"Now, Creator, finish thiz game with Divine Shock Erradication!"

The Creator launched an energy ball at a very unprepared Luke, while his friends gasped and his enemy cackled.

Luke smiled inexplicably.

"What'z zo funny?" Zparks demanded.

"That you were so close! I activate Nutrient Z!"

A bottle of some strange purple substance appeared in front of Luke. Luke drank it, and his Life Points shot up to 6000!

"What'z going on?!?"

"You see, Zparks, when I'm about to receive more than 2000 Life points worth in Battle Damage, I get 4000 Life Points!"

Then the Creator resumed its attack, shocking Luke thoroughly, leaving a stench of slightly burned skin and Luke with 3200 Life Points.

"Grrr…Tripwire Beazt! Attack, too!"

Luke could barely defend himself as the dinosaur bit his arm and lowered his Life Points to 1500.

"Your turn, shit. I'm tired of waiting. Next turn, you'll loze!"

Luke drew his card and chuckled.

"There isn't GOING to be a next turn, Zparks! I activate Monster Reincarnation!"

A cross emerged from his card, glowing in a blue light towards Luke's Graveyard.

"By discarding one card, I can return a card in my Graveyard to my hand." Two cards changed place, from Luke's hand to Luke's cemetery and vice versa, and the cross vanished.

"Now, I summon my Spirit Ryu (1000ATK/1000DEF)!"

A blue ghostly dragon materialized onto the field, menacingly glowering at the Creator.

Zparks laughed maniacally. "Is this a joke?"

"Actually, since I now declare that it's my Battle Phase, I can discard Dragon type monsters from my hand to power up my Spirit Ryu by 1000 for each dragon! So I give up my Luster Dragon #2, reobtained with Monster Reincarnation, my Serpent Knight Dragon (2350ATK/2550DEF), and my Luster Dragon (1900ATK/1600DEF)!"

Spirit Ryu grew repeatedly stronger and larger for each dragon sacrificed, until it had 4000 Attack Points!

"Now, my Spirit Ryu, attack Tripwire Beast with Soul Eclipse!"

An energy beam charged up in the dragon's mouth was released/seemingly/ obliterating Tripwire Beast and Zparks' Life Points. Thus the field was encased in smoke again. After a few tense seconds, it cleared up, and Zparks wasn't there.

"Look! He's trying to escape!!" Angel pointed to the scamp, since she was the first one to notice. The three followed Zparks throughout the maze. Corner after corner, left, right, left, ri… until they cornered him in a dead end.

"Give us the glove and your deck, you bastard! Luke won fair and square! Or else…" Roy threatened him.

"Ok, ok!" He whimpered, throwing his cards to the floor and the glove into the air, retreating.

"I'll come back and get my revenge, I zwear!!" Zparks screamed.

"Roy…This is for you, buddy."

Luke then gave the deck to Roy as well as the dueling glove with two stars as everyone did.

"Thanks, pal! You're the best!"

"No need to go all mushy on me!"

"HEY! What's THAT supposed to mean?!?

Roy growled, but calmed down.

"And someday, Luke, someday, I will challenge you and defeat you!"

"Yeah, when cows fly!" Luke teased, earning his a chase from Roy. Angel sweatdropped.

"…Boys…" She shook her head in disapproval.

And so it was settled, a new duelist was in the scene, ready to earn his own place in the dueling world. But meanwhile, they would have to try to find Yugi, so they could give him the two pieces of Exodia that Luke had picked up from the water.

-I won't let you down, Yugi.- Luke grinned, a look of determination on his face as he ran from his enraged friend.

Neverclaw: Take that, electricity bill! I'll never need to pay you again with this nifty Creator card!

Metaldix: X.x I want free electricity, too!

Neverclaw:…-shocks Metaldix with Creator- There you go!

Metaldix: -fried- You better run…-chases Neverclaw with a spiked baseball bat-


	6. Chapter 6

Neverclaw: Hello, back in Duelist Island, where adventures await our heroes: Luke, Roy and Angel!

Metaldix: Oh yeah! And this chapter will be about--, oh yes, better not tell ya, read it to find out!

**Chapter 6:** Diaper days

A green-haired dude snickered, facing our eager hero Luke in a started duel. It was the challenger's turn, and Luke had but a face-down card on his field.

"Ha! I'll activate Sparks to hit you with 200 points of Direct Damage!"

A small blaze burned Luke's side, turning his counter down to 1800.

"Now, my Hinotama card for 500 extra damage!"

At this, holographic meteors came crashing on Luke's side of the field, hurting his Life Points to a further 1300.

"Now check out the Final Flame magic card! Another 600 points!"

The 'greenette' cackled as Luke was covered in a blaze, leaving his with only 700 Life Points.

-_Shit, this guy's almost finished me off in only one turn!_-

"C'mon Luke! You can do it!" "Kick his behind, Luke!" These were shouts of encouragement from his friends.

"Too bad, pal, it seems like you'll have to hand over those golden stars to me! 'Cuz now...I'll finish you off with Tremendous Fire! This nifty card blows 1000 points of Direct Damage to you and 500 to me!"

A wave of fire materialized and began to collapse on both players, Luke receiving most of it. Sweating from the heat, he smirked.

"Not so fast, I'll activate my face-down card: Magic Jammer!

Said this, a magical seal surrounded both players, making the flares futile.

"As you should know, by discarding one card from my hand, it will destroy an activated magic card!" He gloated, discarding Spirit Ryu for the fulfillment of the trap.

"Fine…I end my turn.."

"What was your name again?"

"It's Victor, why?"

"'Cuz this is over, and I'll be wanting a rematch! As you don't have any monsters, I'll summon my Serpent Knight Dragon (2350 ATK/ 2400 DEF)!"

Then, the ground crumbled and out edged the great dragon.

"Now, conclude this duel with Knight Soul Charge!" The beast reared up and tackled Victor, bringing his counter down to null.

It was a new day, and both Roy and Angel watched as Luke claimed his third and fourth stars against the green-headed, slack-wearing, jacket-sporting teen in their first afternoon in Dueling Kingdom.

"That was a great duel, Luke! I'd like to find someone to fight before night falls..."

Ever since Roy had his own glove, he had been challenging every person who was in his way, but everyone refused with a pitiful excuse. It seemed they didn't want to face a 'rookie' as they had called him.

Soon afterwards, they got attracted by a huge crowd surrounding a dueling arena. It seemed the winner was a...baby?

"C'mon! Who's next?" The infant challenged the multitude with a voice like if he was the leader of the Mafia, wearing a tuxedo and formal trousers with shoes.

"Luke, d' you I could play with this rookie?" Roy whispered to Luke.

"I don't know Roy; he seems to be a champion instead of a rookie..." But Roy either didn't hear his contradiction or chose to ignore it. Furthermore, he jumped into action.

"I challenge you! The winner will win two stars--"

"--And the loser's rarest card!" The toddler interrupted with his gruff manner.

"Wait…What? That part isn't written in the rules…" Roy said, trying to remember the rule book Luke had shown him last night.

"Well…Let's say I like to play with _risks_, if you know what I mean…" The baby said. "Besides, I'm just a baby…" He said, putting an innocent face.

"Aww…" All the crowed echoed, including Roy.

"Well, if you put it in that way…" Roy started, but this didn't seem like such a good idea to the other two.

"Roy, don't do it! This is your first pro duel in your life and you are betting your rarest card, the Creator? No way!"

"The Creator…?" The baby's ear widened.

"Don't worry pal, I got the situation under control." Roy said, and before he could stop him, Roy instantly mounted the arena, watching the panels and buttons as if you brought a cave man to the future. "Ok, maybe everything is NOT under control…"

"Roy…!" Luke yelled. "Dammit, I just won a deck for him and he goes wagering its rarest card…"

"Aww, c'mon, give your friend a little hope," Angel said, and made Luke reason.

"Now that everything's ready, let's duel!" The baby shouted, as he climbed onto the dueling grid, otherwise he couldn't have played.

"You know, it makes me think about how this baby won last duel, as he's only well…a baby…" A person from the crowd watching whispered to another one's ear.

"HEY! I heard you, and you know, many people have their own height problems!" The baby snapped. "So SHUT UP, and watch!" The person who had spoke minutes ago, then hid between the people's jungle.

A holographic coin then appeared on the field. "Alright, rookie, call it, and if it turns out you're right, you'll go first."

"My name's Roy, do NOT call me a rookie!" Roy replied. "Well…I'll choose heads!" He said, as the coin was flipped, and after spinning, it fell right on the same place from which it had been flipped. Heads.

"Alright!" Roy cheered, and drew his sixth card after having five cards in his hand.

-_Ok, I have one Thunder Dragon. So which was that move with the Polymerization card? Oh yeah, I remember! _– Roy had been studying every single move you could do with that deck since he had obtained it, but the nerves were killing him in that instant. –_I better chill or I'll lose it!_-

"I'll have the first move!" And Roy drew. "And I'll use my Thunder Dragon's (1600 ATK/ 1500 DEF) special ability! I can discard it to bring 2 more Thunder Dragons from my deck to my hand!" He grinned as he discarded and searched in his deck for the two other copies of the Thunder Dragon.

"Now, I'll fuse them with Polymerization to form my mighty Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon (2800ATK/2100DEF)!"

A lightning bolt out of nowhere shocked the field, and in its place was a massive, electrically charged two-mouthed fiend!

"Ha, bet you can't beat such a strong monster, diaper boy!"

"Don't call me like that! No one give cheek to Babyface Fred!" Howled the baby, his cheeks red. After calming down, Fred proceeded.

-_Just the cars I needed…-_

"I place down a face-down card, and a face-down monster!" The baby said, and ended his turn.

"My turn, I put this face-down monster and equip my dragon with Twin Swords of Flashing Light- Tryce! By discarding a card from my hand and lowering my beast's attack by 500, it can attack twice! So, Twin-headed Thunder dragon, attack with Zap Duo Blast!" Ordered Roy, and immediately the lizard electrocuted the poor monster with a lightning ray from the dual swords. But the attacked monster seemed to have an effect.

"You destroyed my Mother Grizzly(1400ATK/1000DEF)! And when it's destroyed, I can summon a Water type monster in attack position from my deck, and I choose another Mother Grizzly to be Special summon from my deck!" The baby laughed, as another massive bear took the place of her fallen sister.

"Doesn't matter, Twin-headed Thunder dragon, attack his Mother Grizzly again with your Zap Duo Blast!" Roy yelled, as his monster destroyed in million pieces its target, but another Mother Grizzly took its place!

"Argh! Now just how many of those things you have there?" Roy said frustrated, scratching his head in the process.

"Three. As any other monster in Duel Monsters, the amount of same cards you can have in one deck is of three, meaning that that Mother Grizzly over there is the last one…" Luke explained.

"Heh, thanks for the tip! And let's look at the good side of this, I managed to inflict some damage to him," Roy grinned, pointing at Fred's 1100 life points.

-_Yeah, we just hope you win!_- Angel wished, praying to God it came true.

"My turn, I summon my Giant Rat (1400 ATK/ 1450 DEF) in attack position, pass my Mother Grizzly to defense mode, and end my turn." He said, as a horrific rat appeared on the field.

"Great, an opportunity to inflict you damage! Attack my beast, with your Twin Lightning that puny 'Little' rat!" The reptile's thunder was about to shock the Giant Rat, when a shield appeared and blocked the attack!

"Hey, what was that!" Roy exclaimed.

"You see, I just activated one of my face-down cards, Draining Shield! Besides, stopping your attack, it will increase my life points equal to the attack points your Twin-Headed dragon had!" Babyface Fred laughed, as his life points increased to 3400!

"It was a trap all along…" Luke frowned.

"Oh well, at least I can attack again!" Roy said, and ordered his monster to attack once again, this time destroying the Giant Rat with the Twin Swords of Flashing light-Tryce, and decreasing Fred's life points to 2500.

But then, another Giant Rat took the place of the destroyed one!

"Oops, forgot to tell you, Giant Rat lets me Special summon one Earth monster to the field in attack position, and I chose another Giant Rat!" The baby grinned mischievously.

"I hate you…So much…" Roy sighed. "But fine, I'll end my turn with two face-down cards," Roy then grinned. –_Perfect, those two card I just set were Thunder of Ruler, a card which won't let him attack me for one turn, and the other one is Waboku, meaning all Battle damage will be zero! He is sooo going DOWN!_-

On the field, Roy had his Twin-Headed Thunder dragon in attack mode, equipped with the Twin Swords of Flashing Light, and two other face-down cards, while Fred had his second Giant Rat in attack mode, and his Mother Grizzly, in defense mode. Roy had four cards in his hand, and Fred two.

"Ok, my turn!" The infant said. –_I have to wait a little longer…For that card to arrive…_- "Oh well, I'll summon a face-down monster, pass my Giant rat to defense mode, and end my turn!"

"Wow, that was pretty fast…" Angel noticed.

"Yeah, I bet that guy is trying to summon something…I mean, the effect of all his monsters are to special summon!" Her friend besides her said.

"Darn it…If you just had attacked me…" Roy lamented, drawing a card. "But it seems I'll have to wait, and meanwhile, I'll Special summon my Guardian Tryce (1900ATK/1700DEF), as the card Twin Swords of Flashing Light is on the field!" He said as the familiar guardian appeared once again in the field, with his twin swords in each hand. "And as I have a Normal summon left, I'll use by summoning this face-down monster. Moving on, it's time to attack! Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon, destroy that Giant rat, and Guardian Tryce, tear apart his last Mother Grizzly!" The fire-headed boy ordered, as his monsters did as ordered: Twin-Headed Thunder dragon obliterated the Giant Rat and Guardian Tryce sliced in two parts the Mother Grizzly.

Eventually, another Giant Rat appeared on the field. "That's right, after my last Giant Rat was destroyed, I chose my Last Giant Rat monster, and as Mother Grizzly was also destroyed, I'll special summon the water type monster Cure Mermaid (1500ATK/800DEF)!" The diaper boy explained, as a beautiful blonde mermaid appeared on the field.

"Geez, alright…And as Giant rat had fewer attack points, I'll attack it with my Twin-Headed Dragon's second attack! Go, my monster, with your Zap Duo Blast once again!" Roy yelled, as his monster destroyed the last Giant Rat, lowering Fred's life points to 1400.

"And now that you destroyed my monster, I special summon my Earth type monster Dream Clown (1200ATK/900DEF) in attack position, as my Giant rat was destroyed.," A clown appeared on the field, with an attitude fit for a circus.

"Ok, your turn." Roy sighed. "And I hope he attacks me now…"

"Hey, Roy is doing pretty well!" Angel noticed with curiosity, which then turned to a bright smile.

"Yeah, all I hope is for him to maintain this situation…" Luke said, with nerves activated.

Suddenly, after seeing the card he had just drawn, the baby started to chuckle, a chuckle which then turn to a full volume laugh!

"What's so funny?" Roy demanded, eyes frowned.

"You see, I just drew my rarest card, the card which will bring havoc to you!" Babyface Fred yelled, not containing himself.

"WHAT!" Angel screamed.

"This is bad…" Luke gulped, but the people watching the duel didn't think the same, as they were glad just to see a strong monster.

"But first, according to my Cure mermaid's effect, is she's in attack position during my Standby Phase, I'll gain 800 life points!" He explained, as his monster sang a perfect chorus, which seemed to replenish the life points to 2200.

"Grr…I knew I had to destroy her instead of that Giant Rat…" Roy growled.

"Then, I'll change my Dream Clown's position to a defensive one!" Fred chuckled as his monster passed to defense mode, but in the process, the monster muttered a series of magical spells, and the all of a sudden Twin-Headed Thunder dragon disappeared with a POOF!

"WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED!" Roy exploded, looking everywhere around him, hoping to see his monster a few yards away.

"You see, that's the effect of my Dream Clown, by changing it from attack to defense position, it can destroy a monster

"Okay, just continue…" Roy simply said.

"Hehe…As you wish, and now, I sacrifice these three monsters, Cure mermaid, Dream Clown and my face-down monster to summon the greatest and rarest monster I own! The powerful Moisture Creature (2800ATK/2900DEF)!" He yelled as the silhouettes of Cure Mermaid, Dream Clown, and the face-down monster, Mystical Elf (800ATK/2000DEF), disappeared from the field.

And suddenly, a flash rain poured into the arena, creating a flood. It dried up quickly and something was there. It was bubble-like creature inside a pipe wielding an umbrella and water gun showed in the arena with 2800ATK and 2900DEF, to everyone's surprise.

"Wow, look at those points!" Everyone said.

"And also, it has a nifty special ability. If I use three monsters as sacrifices to summon it, it destroys all face-down cards on your side of the field!" And so the bubble did as told with a squirt from the water gun.

"NOOOO! And I had saved those dear cards for a special occasion!" Roy lamented, a tear coming upon his eyes.

"Oh God…I'll act as if I don't know him…" Luke sighed, Angel agreeing with him.

"I place two cards face-down, and now…Attack his Guardian Tryce with Torrential Flood!" The creature launched a tsunami with its water gun against Roy's dragon, completely annihilating it.

"No way!" Roy cried, as his Life Points shrunk to 1100.

"I'm so nice, I'll give you a turn to try and do something… I end my turn!"

"Awwww… He's so cute and nice…" The crowd cooed.

"Geez…I bet that guy didn't have anything of use in his hand and said that…" Angel sighed.

The baby was in the lead with 2200 Life Points, having the Moisture Creature on the field along with a face-down card and one card in his hand. Roy had 1500 Life Points and a face-down monster, plus three cards in his hand.

"What a twist this duel has done…And it's not good for Roy…" Angel whispered gloomily.

"Don't worry, I know Roy will win…Somehow…"

While those two talked, Roy had kept an eye on them in this situation, hoping to receive some advice, but he heard the entire contrary.

–_Even my friends are losing hope now… I must do something, c'mon, this card has to be good…Yes!_ –

"Well, let's see what you can do against THIS! It's time to summon MY rarest card, The Creator (2300ATK/3000DEF)!"

A cloud then appeared blocking the shining flame ball and lightning stroke the arena's ground. The people blinked with all those powerful flashes, some just got scared, and after the thunder show, a great titan was standing there, The Creator.

"Alright! Good comeback, Roy!" Luke leapt from his comfortable place on the grass, yelling louder than a car's horn.

"And of course, I use The Creator's special effect! By discarding one card from my hand, I can special summon one monster from my Graveyard, my Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon this time!" He grinned as his loyal monster was brought back to the action.

"I'm sorry to do this buddy, but you'll have to attack that Moisture Creature with your Twin Lightning!" The thunder lizard then shocked Moisture Creature with all its might, but the attack was so strong that its backlash destroyed both the lizard and the Moisture Creature!

"C'mon Roy, attack and finish this!" Angel shouted as the entire crowd gasped with eyes widened.

"As you wish! Go Creator, finish it with you Divine Shock Erradication!" He yelled, and raindrop holograms started falling, when a MASSIVE lightning was about to fall upon the infant when Moisture Creature reappeared and it reflected it with a tsunami! The counterattack broke the Creator into a million pieces and the weather returned to normal, and as Roy's life points were reduced to 900.

"No figgin' WAY! I just destroyed your Moisture Creature!"

"Who's the baby now, eh? I activated just in time, Call of the Haunted, which revitalized my Moisture Creature in Attack Position!"

"As I said before: I hate you SO much! I'll place this face down-card and end my turn…" Roy repeated, as a face-down card hologram appeared right behind Roy's only face-down monster.

"Woah, this duel is really exciting!" A person from the crowd said, and was followed by agreements.

"Yeah, and now that Moisture Creature is back it's even better…" Angel said ironically.

"In part you're right…But now Moisture creature is more vulnerable, because even if Call of the Haunted revived it, if that card is destroyed, then Moisture Creature so will be," Luke explained.

"Is that so, huh?" Angel raised an eyebrow. "ROY! Destroy that trap card and his monster will be done for!"

"Uh-huh," Roy nodded seriously. "The only problem is…That I don't have anything to destroy that trap card…" He said ashamed of himself, and both Angel and Roy lost their balance, falling to the ground with a THUMP.

"Once my Moisture creature attacks, this is over, as now I'll activate my trap card, Meteorain! Now during this turn, any of my monsters whose attack is higher than the defense of your monsters, that very same difference of points will be inflicted to YOU! So go, Moisture Creature, use your Torrential--"

"Not so fast! I'll activate MY trap, A Feint Plan! Now you'll have to wait until your next turn to attack to attack a face-down monster!" Roy grinned, interrupting and stopping the Moisture Creature's attack.

"You can't hide forever, I can win in many ways, so don't extend this game!"

"Don't give up, Roy! Remember this is your first duel! You helped us in the worst situations, and look at us! We're standing here, doing the same for you!" Luke and Angel yelled.

"You're both right, I won't give up! And so I'll use the cad I just drew, Pot of Greed, which will let me draw two more cards!" He said, and when he looked at the two new cards, a smirk formed on his face. "I'll now summon this card, Batteryman AA (0ATK/0DEF), and reveal my face-down monster: another Batteryman AA!"

At this two batteries with eyes, arms and legs were revealed.

"HA! Is that supposed to scare me!" Fred yelled.

"YES! As their effect explains that for each Batteryman AA on my side of the field, it will increase their attack or defense by 1000, according to their positions respectively, and as there are two Batteryman AA in attack mode... Meaning that I have two monsters with 2000 ATK!!"

The baby started chortling again.

"It's useless, why do you keep playing like this? My Moisture Creature is invincible!"

"You're wrong! Your Moisture Creature may be strong, but it's not invincible! And then, I'll use Battery Charger! This will let me special summon from my Graveyard a monster whose name includes 'Batteryman'!"

"But you didn't ever send to the Graveyard that—No…Could it be…?"

"Yes, when I used my Twin Swords of Flashing Light-Tryce's effect, I had to discard one card from my hand, and guess what it was?" He smiled from ear to ear as a third Batteryman AA appeared on the field, and the entire monster's attack shot up to 3000 attack points!

"This is not happening!" Fred's face turned as white as chalk.

"Sorry to tell you, but welcome to reality diaper boy! Attack my monsters, annihilate him by destroying his Moisture Creature and attacking again with your Battery Discharge!" One Batteryman AA then leapt right towards Moisture Creature, discharging an incredible amount of sparks, shrinking Babyface Fred's life points to 2000, and then a second Batteryman AA approached the baby, and discharged the same number of volts, finishing his life points completely!

The batteries charged up and one shot its beam at Moisture Creature, destroying it, and the other two launched a final blow.

"Oh yeah! And that also means you have to give me your Moisture Creature!"

"Heh, he did it after all…" Luke said, cleaning all the sweat on his forehead with his hand.

"I TOLD you to have a little fate on him, did I?" She said as she watched his friend contemplating his new card, and then appraising it. All the crowd then doubted if it had been the very same guy who had won just then, by looking at his actions.

"Ok, I think I'll act as if don't know him…again…" Angel sighed.

Metaldix: Ok, there it goes, Roy's first duel!

Neverclaw: ALRIGHT!

Neverclaw: And next chapter, we'll focus on Luke once again!

Metaldix: See ya next time, and review!


	7. Chapter 7

Metaldix: Ok, here we are, in the seventh chapter!

Neverclaw: Where new characters make their appearance!

Metaldix: So what? Many new characters are appearing you know…

Neverclaw: Uhh…onto the chapter….

Disclaimer: Ph3ar the non-ownage these guys have regarding ALL THINGS YU-GI-OH!

**Chapter 6:** Duel for survival

Luke had now four stars in his duelist glove, Roy likewise, so they felt like the most bouyant teens on the island. But they were nothing without Angel; they wouldn't have had a bed or food at night, or a fire to warm them up.

She had been curious and adventurous ever since she had gone camping with her family when she was 3 years old, and went on camping every year since then. She even made a tent with leaves and branches, with her _Camping in the Wild,_ a book she always kept at hand. They sat down and started talking about memories, brought to mind by their surroundings.

"Hey, remember when you two were scared of a noise out in the woods and it turned out to be a squirrel?"

"Which bit Roy in the finger for stealing his nut!"

"No, wait, it was Luke!" They all laughed until a shape emerged from the darkness and was illuminated by the fire.

"Hey, you two! Which one shall succumb before my number one deck?" But then a second silhouette appeared, taller than the first one. He had dark hair, cold blue eyes, and sported a blue-and-white jacket with white trousers. He seemed about 19. The smaller one was a blond 14-year-old girl wearing a short jean skirt and a blue jacket, with the number 1 on it's back.

"If it's a duel you want, a duel you'll get!" Roy challenged, but was hit instead and, falling to the floor, watched in dismay as the big guy relieved him of his four stars and deck.

"We didn't mean to duel, we meant to FIGHT. If not, how could we have got so far?" He said, showing his eight stars in his glove and the biggest deck you could imagine. The teenage girl, however, had two stars.

"Hey, I played many matches, and I'm Yugi Muto's number one fan!" As Roy and Angel expected, Luke stood up.

"That's not true! I'm his numbah one fan!"

They were just about to argue when Roy had to stop it. "Excuse Luke but...HE STOLE MY STARS!! Isn't it time for you to show your brave and kind personality? Why don't you say, "I'll bet all my stars to recover my best friend's!", eh?"

There was silence for a while.

"ArE yOu MaD? All my stars? Never!" Luke yelled. "I first I have to have a chat with this little girl!"

"Are you calling Yugi's number one fan little?!?"

"I'm his number one fan!!"

"STOP IT, ALL OF YOU, YOU'RE ACTING LIKE CHILDREN!" Angel shouted, who until that moment had been left aside without a say.

"Why don't we just decide all of this with two duels? If Luke wins both duels he'll win four star chips and Roy's deck and stars back?" Angel suggested.

"Ok, I'll do it...BUT THE GIRL FALLS FIRST!" He said, his eyes flaming.

"Nyeh. I'm all for it, Crusher. But what about you?"

The roughneck-presumably Crusher-shrugged. "...I guess one fair win won't hurt." He grunted gruffly.

They all went to the nearest arena, which was a forest, advantaging insect monsters.

"Ready to lose? By the way, my name's Kari."

"Luke to you, Kari."

Going upwards, Luke first passed some cards from his side-deck to his deck and vice-versa.

"Ready? LET'S DUEL!"

A coin then appeared on the field, which was called heads by Kari. The coin was tossed in the air instantly, but the result was…Tails!

"Alright, I'll be going first! I'll summon Warrior Dai Grepher (1700ATK/1600DEF), and end my turn." He said, as his muscular warrior appeared on the field, sword unsheathed.

"You think that's a smart move? I'll show you a smart move! I summon Skilled Dark Magician (1900ATK/1700DEF)!" A wizard with hidden face and black robes rose onto the field, staff at ready and three empty orbs floating around him.

"Now, Skilled Magic Attack!" The sorcerer conjured a dark blast against Luke's monster, which shattered into million pieces. "I finish my turn putting this face-down card!"

The duel was starting to get Luke nervous. He had 1800 Life Points and she had a strong monster on the field already.

"Only by showing me a monster similar to Yugi's Dark Magician doesn't mean you are his number one fan!"

"And the outcome of a duel does?" Kari snapped.

"Errrr...Yes it does! I put my Luster Dragon (1900 ATK/1600 DEF) and plus this Dragon treasure, increasing its stats by 300!"And so, Luke's sapphire dragon emerged, an orb on its neck, increasing its strength to 2200.

"Attack his Skilled Dark Magician!" Luke's dragon blasted a sapphire spear from its mouth but when it was about to crash into Kari's monster, it rebounded and obliterated Luster Dragon.

"What happened?!" Luke demanded as the girl started to giggle.

"You just fell into my trap, Adhesion Trap Hole! This card will half your dragon's attack points, so it means they're reduced to 1100, leaving you with no monsters and 1100 Life Points! A true fan wouldn't fall into that simple trap. Also, that Equip Card you played will be counted as a Spell Counter..."

–_What the heck is a spell counter?! Better not ask, she will think I'm not worthy to be a Yugi fan_…-

"Mmm, good move. I'll finish my turn with this face-down card".

–_I'm sure I've read something about Spell counters...Maybe something happens when they reach three, and since I gave her one with an equip card, they might activate with those type of cards, so I'd better not play them..._-

"Ok, my turn! I place this face-down card, and with my Skilled Dark Magician, I finish this duel! Attack!" With the great impact the monster caused, the blast could be felt from miles and everyone could be awake, but when the dust cloud disappeared, Luke was still there, with Life Points intact.

"I activated Waboku, reducing the damage you inflicted to 0!"

"Oh yeah! Luke is still in the game! C'mon, you can do it!" Roy jumped for joy with Angel, then Luke then raised the voice. "Who's the fool now, eh?"

"As it's my turn, I summon Yugi's Dark Blade (1800ATK/1500DEF) in Defense Mode, and I activate Fissure!" The arena started to shake and a fissure appeared below Kari's skilled dark magician, but he didn't fall into it. Luke's new black-armored fighter shook his fist at the sorcerer.

"I activate my face-down trap, no wait, I activate Yugi's trap, Magic Jammer! By discarding one card from my hand, it will negate your Fissure's effect and destroy it! Oh, and by the way, you also activated a second Spell counter!"

–_Oh no, I'm in serious trouble, my strategy failed, and I activated two Spell counters, that means I can't play magic cards...That's impossible!_- "I end my turn with this face-down card.", Luke said.

"See? You can't beat me! I summon my Magical Marionette (2000ATK/1000DEF)!"

At this, an enchanted and creepy puppet with strings ready to snare appeared.

"Attack his Dark blade!" But Luke's monster didn't explode after the attack.

"I activate this trap: Castle Walls! It will increase his defense by 500 for this turn, meaning you'll have to wait a little bit !"

Now Kari's turn ended, Luke drew a card.

–_Doesn't matter what happens if those spell counters reach three, I need to play this card._-

"Kari, you won't win! I activate Pot of Greed, that means I'll draw two more cards, and summon this face-down monster with this face-down card! Kari, I told you, I'M HIS NUMBER ONE FAN!" But she replied otherwise, and the fight started again.

"Hey, can't you two finish this duel and then solve that?" Roy suggested.

"I hate to admit it, but he's right, sister!" Crusher said.

"Ok, let's continue! As you activated that magic card, my third Spell counter is lit on Skilled Dark Magician AND another one on my Magical Marionette, whose attack will raise by 200 for each Spell counter on him! And now, I can sacrifice my Skilled Dark magician and his spell counters, to form my great Dark Magician(2500ATK/2100DEF)! Who said I wasn't his biggest fan? I even have his favorite card! You don't stand a chance! First, Magical Marionette! Attack Luke's face-down monster!"

The marionette proceeded by wrapping the card in its strings and choking it, destroying the face-down Mystical Elf.

"And now, Dark Magician, show Luke who's Yugi's real fan by ending this match!" Kari yelled.

"Not if I activate Ready for Intercepting! Now your monster will change to face-down defense position", Luke said as the spellcaster crossed his arms to defense position.

"Ok, I finish my turn by setting this monster and placing this face-down card".

"My turn! I summon my 8-Claws scorpion (300ATK/200DEF)! Now, attack his face-down Dark Magician!" Luke ordered while his monster unleashed a beam from it's tail and crashed on the Dark Magician.

"Loser! You lose 1800 Life points as your monster's attack is lower than my magician's attack and you lose! I thought you were more intelligent!"

Luke then grinned.

"But do you know its effect?" Kari started sweating.

"What?!" She yelled.

"You wouldn't underestimate it if you were a real Yugi fan: its attack raises to 2400 when it attacks a face-down defense position monster, so your Dark Magician is destroyed!"

"NOOO!!!" She kneeled down still dazed from the blast. "B-but how?" She asked confused.

"And that's not all, I activate Monster Reborn, reviving your Dark Magician! Things are changing, uh? Well, I finish my turn by putting these two face-down card, your turn!" It took a few minutes to Kari to recover after the attack and stand up.

"Doesn't matter...Because your scorpion's attack is now back to normal. Magical Marionette, with 2400 thank to your Monster reborn, attack!" Thegirl ordered, but instead of attacking the scorpion, it attacked the Dark Magician, leaving Kari with no monsters and 1900 Life Points.

"I activated Shift! That means you attack my Dark Magician instead of my 8-claws Scorpion--Hey, are you listening to me?" Until that moment Kari hadn't been listening, she was thinking about her precious Dark Magician.

"Anyways, I knew you would somehow summon Dark Magician and I would have to put it against you. I was hiding these cards for Yugi, but it seems I won't! I activate my Thousand Knives, destroying your face-down monster, and now he'll attack your life points directly!"

"No, because I activate my face-down card..."

"Not so fast! Remember my face-down card? Dark Magic Attack! It will destroy your magic and trap cards! Sayonara, Kari, seems you'll have to agree to stay with number two!" Said Luke, ending the match.

–_Yes! I defeated that stubborn girl! Now, I'll have to defeat that big guy to recover Roy's deck and stars. The thing is, I think the hardest part of this challenge is still about to begin..._-

**To be continued...**


	8. Chapter 8

Metaldix: Ok, you may all be about to flame this story because of it's bad vocabulary and of its MEDIOCRITY!!

Neverclaw: But from now on, we promise each chapter will be better than the last one!

Metaldix: And if we don't accomplish this, then you may not call me Metaldix!

Neverclaw: Ok, you overdid it…

Metaldix: Doesn't matter, onto the chappie! WHICH WILL BE A BETTER ONE! Oh and by the way, I finally HAD to add…The duelist kingdom rules we are using, as in the series they changed every duel…

Neverclaw: Ok, here, monsters can be Normal summoned simply, even high-level monsters, EXCEPT Ritual monsters, or you can sacrifice three monsters to accomplish the effect of a determined monster, ex: Moisture Creature, although you can also normal summon it simply…

Metaldix: There'll be 2000 LP, the usual field bonus of 500 ATK and DEF to a specific type(s) of monster, at the very start of the duel a coin will be flipped to decide who goes first, yeah, we know in the series didn't show this, but how will we decide who will go first then? And the rest is as normal as a simple duel would be…

Neverclaw: And if any of you readers, know an official page explaining the rules of Duelist Kingdom, please report it to us! And now yes, to the chapter!

Disclaimer: We do not own Yugioh! Nor any of its original stuff, you know the routine…)

Chapter 7: Don't trap dragons, kids!

"Don't think I'm going to be as easy as my sis was, I'm much stronger! I'm Crusher!" Crusher yelled, as he placed his deck and fusion deck in his respective duelist grid.

"Ok, you could stop yelling you know? Could we start the duel now as a friend's deck and stars are depending on me…"Luke replied. "Once again…" He then added ashamed of himself.

Once in their positions and the correct cards in their decks, and Angel and Roy were on the sidelines, while Kari was on the other side, rootig for his big brother; the duel finally started.

"You know, I don't know why the hell should we be standing like this, we should just kick they're ass and make them return my decks and four stars!" Roy said scornfully, looking with despise towards Kari and Crusher.

"Well yeah, but I don't kow what Luke _is_ thinking, I mean, he agreed this whole thing! And even if he refused at first, he then accepted…" Angel said, losing herself in her thoughts.

"C'mon, big bro! Just finish this guy and let's get out of here!" Kari said, don't liking the look on Roy's face. "But be careful, as that chest-nut boy _has_ some luck!"

"Luck, eh? Well, let's see how lucky I am with the coin flip!" Luke smirked, as the holographic coin appeared on the field. "And I call it heads!"

The coin the jumped into the air, spinning and spinning, and when it fell flat on the ground, it showed…tails!

"Well, it seems that your 'luck' isn't with you anymore as I'll be going first!" Crusher said as he drew a sixth card. "I'll now use Pot of Greed, to draw two more cards," He said, and he then drew two more cards just as he said, making his hand of seven cards. "Well, what do you know? I just got what I need to _crush_ you! I'll now activate a magic card, Frontline Base!" He said, as a MASSIVE wall rose from the arena, covering Crusher completely.

"Umm…If you can hear me, Crusher, tell me, what the hell is that thing!" Luke yeled in awe.

"You see, from now on, during my Main phase, I can special summon one Union monster from my hand whose star level is lower than four; that is, if I have one," His opponent explained.

"Union…Monster? I've never heard of them…" Angel said, and Roy agreed with her.

"Heh, then my brother will teach you a lesson…" Kari muttered with a smirk.

"Ok, moving on! Now, I'll summon my Decayed Commander (1000ATK/1500DEF)!"

Then, a zombie wielding a a sword and a blue and yellow armor stood weakly in the field, pointing it's sword at Luke.

"That monster can barely maintain its balance! How can you possibly crush me—?"

Then, suddenly, a ferocious tiger wrapped up in bandages appeared on the field, growling at Luke, once again.

"Oh, my apologies, I never mentioned Decayed commander's effect, when he is summoned, I can Special summon my Zombie Tiger (1400ATK/1600DEF) to the field from my hand…And now, I'll fuse them!"

And without further order, Deayed Commander simply mounted Zombie Tiger, and their stats became one (1500ATK/2000DEF).

"But you didn't use Polymerization! How can you possibly fuse them without that card?" Roy yelled.

"Unless…So _that's _a Union monster!" Luke grinned, pointing at Crusher's monster.

"Actually, only Zombie Tiger was, and thanks for his Union type, I can fuse it with Decayed Commander, and Zombie Tiger will be now considered as an Equip Magic card, which increased my Commander's attack and defense by 500!" Crusher yelled.

"But that not _all!_ I now summon my Burning Beast (1500ATK/1000DEF)!"

"Now I understand…Your strategy is based on these Union monsters…And your newly summoned Burning Beast was another Union monster, which was Special summoned thanks to your Frontline Base…" Luke frowned.

"You learn fast, kid," Crusher smirked. "Let's see what can you do in your turn, as I'll place a face-down card and end my turn,"

"Ok, at last!" Luke said as he drew his sixth card. –_We are on the forest right now, so I'll guess only insect-type or plant-type monsters will receive a bonus…I'm on my own, then…-_ "Alright, I summon my Luster Dragon #2 (2400ATK/1400DEF) in attack mode!"

His emerald dragon then appeared in the field—when suddenly a dozen of chains trapped the creature, leaving it immobilized!

"What gives..?" Luke gasped.

"Do you obviously think I would let you summon a stronger monster just like that? WRONG! I activated my Shadow Spell, which decreases your monster's attack by 700, and doesn't allow you to change it's battle position!" Crusher said, revealing his face-down.

"Grr…Fine. I'll then place one card face-down and end my turn…" Luke growled.

"Heh, what happened? Finally realized you couldn't win? Too bad, as it's too late now!" Crusher laughed as he drew a card, making his hand have three cards. "Let's see…Oh, this isn't your day, kid! I'll now summon my Vampire Orchis (2200ATK/1500DEF) which gets a bonus from the field of 500 attack and defene points thanks for it being a plant-type monster! And that's not all, as when it is summoned, I can Special summon, Des Dendle (800ATK/2500), which gets the same bonus for the same reason!"

"Great, just what I needed…" Luke sighed as he glanced at the two great trees, which now were fusing, Des dandle then wraped itself around Vampire Orchis, forming a huge plant!

"And the effect of this new Union fusion is…?"

"Each time it destroys a monster, I can special summon one Wicked Plant token, which would be a plant-type, earth attribute, one star level and 800 attack and defense points!" Luke nodded without much interest. "And now, because of my Frontline Base, I'll special summon Freezing Beast (1500ATK/1000DEF)!"

From the wall surrounding Crusher an enormous beast emerged, covered in ice just as Burning Beast was covered in fire.

"And I'll fuse my use my Freezing Beast to equip itself to Burning Beast! Now, each time this beauty inflicts Battle damage to you, I'll be able to destroy one face-down card of yours!" He laughed as his monsters fused, forming an ice and fire beast, and the most curious thing of all was, that the two elements didn't repel each other in the beast's body.

"C'mon, Luke! I know you can handle this!" Angel said, but then she looked at Crusher's army, and then to Luke's trapped Luster dragon…

"Yeah, yeah, thanks for the tip…" Luke sighed.

"C'mon man! You can beat this guy! You beat Tamma, remember? And boy, that was a hell of a duelist! Now look at yourself! Losing hope for these three monsters of his with those equip cards!" Roy snapped.

"Equip crads…?" Luke's eyes then widened, as if emerging from his trance state.

"Umm, yeah, if you didn't notice those monsters are…"

"Roy, you're a genius! I know how to beat this guy! It will be a piece of cake! Prepare Crusher, for it will be _I_ who will crush you!" Luke said, grinning all of a sudden.

"What the hell has gotten into that kid's mind?" Kari gasped worried. –_Could it be…Cold he win against Crusher? No, that can't be possible!- _

"Ok, resuming my turn it's time to ATTACK!" Crusher yelled. "C'mon Vampire Orchis, attack that puny little dragon with your Triple Vampire Roots!" Vampire Orchis the did as ordered, as three roots emerged from the arena's ground and went towards Luster dragon #2.

"No, Luke…!" Angel cried.

"Not so fast, Crusher, activate, Negate attack! This will stop your turn's whole Battle phase!" He yelled as the roots in a blink of an eye disappeared in the ground.

"Fine, you saved yourself this one, but next time…!" Crusher muttered between teeth.

"Yeah, next time, you're going down!" Roy jumped with joy.

"You almost got him, bro! Now just wait a little bit more!" Kari said.

-_Heh, that's what _I_ gotta do…-_ Luke smirked. "Alright, my turn!" He said swiftly drawing a card. "Mmm…Ok, I'll use swords of Revealing Light!" He said as several flashing swords fell from the sky, falling upon Crusher's side of the field. "These swords won't let you attack for three turns, so be patient my young lad!" Luke smiled.

"Yeah, yeah, just move on…" Crusher replied coldly.

"As you wish, and now, I'll summon my Dark Blade (1800ATK/1500DEF) in attack mode, and end my turn after I place a face-down card," His dark knight then appeared in the field, with his swords drawn.

The stats were the following, both players had an untouched 2000 LP. In their hands, Crusher had nothing, while, Luke had three. And on the field, Crusher had his monsters Decayed Commander, Burning Beast and Vampire Orchis all in attack mode, while being equipped with the 'magic' cards Zombie Tiger, Freezing Beast and Des dendle respectively, plus the continuous magic card Frontline Base and Shadow Spell. On the other side, Luke had his Dark Blade in attack mode and his Luster dragon #2 in attack mode, but being affected by Shadow spell and a face-down card with the Swords Of revealing Light magic card besides it.

"Hey, that's strange…" Roy muttered.

"What is it?" Angel inquired.

"Why would Luke summon a stronger monster like Dark Blade, and not attack Burning Beast or Decayed Commander?" The other one wondered.

"Umm…Generosity?" Angel smiled innocently.

"Luke? In this kind of situation? When my deck and my stars are depending on this very same duel? YOU WISH!" He yelled frantically.

"You're gonna regret that, mate!" Crusher said. "Because I won't do the same thing with your Life Points! And as it's my turn, I'll summon my X-Head Cannon (1800ATK/1500DEF), and end my turn."

"Draw." Luke suddenly said with a firm face.

"What crap are you giving me now? You're crazy, right? I've got an army here while you just have a trapped monster and a Dark Blade who isn't that strong! I'll just have to wait some turns and Boom, you're out of the game!" He said.

"Why are you doing this?" Luke inquired with the same expression.

"Why I am doing what? Stealing? We were born in the streets kid, we _had_ to steal. Our parents left us, the world left us! We suffered while we looked at people like you walk through the street, happy, having all you want. Well, you know what? We decided to change the things, we would be happy stealing, and you'd be suffering. That would show you how we have been feeling all these years!" Crusher then said, now with the same expression Luke had.

"Brother…" Kari muttered.

"But we haven't done anything wrong to you guys! There may be some bad people out there, but not all of them are like that! At least not we!" Roy then said from the low ground.

"Yeah, that's right! You guys should open a little more!" Angel added.

"So, what do you say? You'll listen once I win this duel?" Luke raised an eyebrow.

Crusher then glanced at his sister, who nodded inch by inch. "That is, as you said, _if_ you win."

"Heh, okay then!" Luke's expression then changed to a grin.

"Uhh…So now this isn't only for your stuff Roy…It's also for them…" Angel said deeply.

"Umm…I simply want my deck and four stars and that's it…" Roy simply said.

"You…!" An enraged Angel then pulled from Roy's ear.

"Heeeey, it hurts you know!"

"My turn, Crusher, and believe me, you'll regret not having made this duel a draw!"

"Yeah, because I'll be the winner!" Crusher grinned.

"Oh, really? Well, let's find out!" Luke said, looking at the card he'd just drawn. "Y'know, do you want to know which the weakness in your deck strategy is?

"I say you're just bluff."

"Oh, really? Tell me, that card in your hand is a magic or trap card?" Luke simply asked.

"I wouldn't tell you, you bloke," Crusher replied.

"Oh, because I just wanted to tell you, that if by any chance it was, and if you wanted to play it, you woulnd't be able to."

"Why not—" Crusher then slowly glanced his magic and trap slots, and he noticed that it was full! "No way…"

"Now I get the weakness is of those monsters is the equip magic card effect!" Roy understood.

"So what? At least my brother will kick his ass," Kari said grumpily.

"Yeah, but without them, they're nothing! That's why I'll activate this magic card, A Wingbeat of Giant Dragon!"

All of a sudden Luster Dragon #2, which had been until now paralyzed, started to find new forces…and broke the Shadow spell!

"WHAT! How did it do that!"

"By returning, one dragon on my side of the field whose star level is of five or more to my hand, I can destroy every single Magic and Trap card on _your_ side of the field!"

"IMPOSSIBLE!" Crusher yelled slamming the dueling grid with his fist, as if it would change the whole situation.

"What are you waiting for my beast? Use your Emerald Wingbeat!"

Luster Dragon #2 then rose to the dark sky, and let a shower of emeralds fall upon every Union monster which was on the Magic and Trap slots.

"Oh yeah, baby! Destroy that Des Dendle who believed it was the great thing wrapping itself around another tree, and that Freezing Beast which put me nervous, and let's not forget that tiger which growled at Luke! That Shadow Spell should be wiped out of the map I dare say, and that irritating Frontline Base which spoiled everything for my partner!" Roy yelled madly as emeralds destroyed everything, making an enormous flash of light, between the emeralds and the flashing swords.

"Wow, how beautiful…" Angel gasped, not noticing that those very same emeralds were piercing apart everything.

"But that's not all, because now I'll re-summon my Luster dragon #2!" He grinned as his dragon appeared once again, growling menacingly at Crusher. "And guess what, it's back for more, as it will destroy every _single_ of your monsters in this very same turn!"

"B-but that impossible!" Kari yelled.

"Unless…!" Crusher noticed the face-down card on Luke's side of the field.

"Exactly! I activate, Burst Breath!" And then, Luke's dragon began to charge…to charge a flaming blast!

"Uh-oh…" Crusher flinched, knowing what was coming.

"Now, by offering one dragon-type monster on the field, I can attack and destroy every monster on your side of the field if their defense is lower than my dragon's attack! And guess what, all their defenses are lower that 2400 attack points! One word of advice? Never trap a dragon, even if it's just a couple of turns! Go Luster Dragon #2, time for revenge! Use your Emerald Burst Breath!"

The dragon then let a massive shower of emeralds and flames be shot from its mouth, destroying and engulfing in fire at a jet-speed every monster on Crusher's side of the field!

"Oh yeah baby! Take that you Vampire Orchis, who believed it was the great thing having another tree wrap itself on itself, and that Decayed commander mounting a zombie tiger, and let's not forget about that Burning Beast which made me nervous! And that X-head cannon which….which did nothing at all!" Roy yelled madly…again.

"Wow, how beatiful…" Angel gasped…again.

"Uhh…Those guys are creepy…" Luke laughed nervously.

"BROTHER!" Kari yelled, and Luke then turned his attention towards his opponent.

After the smoke had driven away…a silhouette could be seen, and there he stood, Crusher. "That was a hell of an oblivion…" Crusher coughed, feeling as if the smoke had entered his lungs.

"Are you alright?" Kari inquired.

"Yeah…I guess…At least my Life points are—WHAT THE…!" All of a sudden, Dark Blade rushed towards him, and slashed him one at a time with his twin swords!

"Hey, what's the problem with you…!" Kari yelled towards Luke, who was completely serious.

"Hey you, we still have a duel to do," Luke said, not noticing Kari's comment.

"Heh, you're right you bastard," Crusher chuckled, accommodating himself after receiving the blow.

"But, brother, he just…!" Kari repeated.

"Leave it, _Luke_ is right. I must now concentrate, but be sure of this kid, even if I have just a mere 200 Life points left, I'll _crush_ you with what's left of my deck!" Crusher smiled clutching his fist tightly.

"Is that so? Then bring it on!" Luke smirked.

Metaldix: So, that's how we end our chapter!

Neverclaw: Why did you have to make it like that? I hate cliffies! Spits

Metaldix: Well, the story somehow has to have a bit of suspense, if not it wouldn't be fun!

Neverclaw: Yeah, right. Anyways, WILL LUKE WIN? WILL CRUSHER UMM…CRUSH HIM? FIND OUT IN THE NEXT CHAPTER FOLKS!

Metaldix: That's right! Read and review, everyone!


	9. Chapter 9

Metaldix: ALRIGHT! Now Luke and Crusher's duel is about to end!

Neverclaw: Say what? How do we know?

Metaldix: Umm…Because I wrote it and you corrected it?

Neverclaw: Oh, right…OKAY, THEN PUT THE DAMN CHAPTERS!

Metaldix: Ok, and folks, remember the Duelist Kingdom rules from before, as they'll be important!

Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh!, nor its characters, but we DO own some of its cards…

Chapter 9: The United Victory

It was in the middle of the night, in a deep forest, where Luke and Crusher were dueling. Angel and Roy were in the sidelines, and so was Kari. The score, was Luke winning with 2000 LP, two cards in his hand, and on the field was his Dark Blade in attack mode, and the magic card Swords of Revealing Light, which would be active only for Crusher's next turn. On the other side, Crusher had nothing whatsoever, nor in the field nor in his hand except for his 200 LP left, and that it was his turn now.

"Heh, it will take a miracle for that guy to recover from such oblivion," Roy chuckled, arms folded.

"Well, that isn't nice to say Roy, but in this case…You're right!" Angel said happily.

"Bro…" Kari bit her lip.

"Alright, it's my turn!" Crusher said, drawing a card, and smiling upon it.

"I hope he didn't draw something good…" Luke gulped.

"Too bad, as I did! Now I use Monster Reborn! This will let me Special summon a monster from my Graveyard, and I choose…Des Dendle in defense mode!" He said, and immediately, the familiar tree emerged from the ground, in a defensive stance, covering itself with all kind of plants.

"Huh? Why did he choose _that_ thing? It has a mere 700 attack points, in fact, its original attack points would be 300 if it wasn't for the forest bonus…" Roy frowned.

"Yeah, but you should take into account its high defense points, 2500…Maybe what Crusher is trying to do is buy some time for his to gather what he is looking for…" Angel replied.

"Wow, Angel, you surprise me! I though you were a completely ignorant about this!"

"Hehe, yeah well I—HEY!" Angel the spit some flames and pulled from Roy's already hurt ear.

"Noooo not again!" The other one yelled in pain.

"Right. Then if you don't do anything else I'll begin my turn!" Luke said drawing the third card for his hand, and so then the Swords of Revealing Light disappeared from the field, leaving Crusher free to attack.

-_Dammit…In here I hold my 8-claws Scorpion, and if I can lower that Des Dendle's defense, and put it face-down…No, it's not possible…! I'll guess I'll wait till a chance appears for this baby…-_ "Ok, I'll end my turn."

Crusher then drew a card, and flinched when seeing it. –_This card…It is one of the cards I've been waiting for, but without the other ones…It's of no use…-_ "Your turn."

"I'll pass."

"Same for me."

"Aww, boring! I want to see some action!" Roy said grumpily.

"Shut up, loser, and let my brother play as he wants to!" Kari yelled from the other side.

"Hey, what's your problem?" Roy replied raising a fist.

"Well, Roy, she IS right after all, let them play…" Angel sighed.

It was Luke's turn again, and so he drew a card. "Well, what do you know? I've got a nice little friend here! So, why don't we let it out for some fresh air? I now summon, my Armed Dragon LV3 (1200ATK/900DEF) in attack mode!" His familiar orange dragon then appeared on the field, looking at Crusher with a challenging look.

"Ha, is that lizard supposed to scare me?" Crusher chuckled.

"Just wait and see, my friend…" Luke grinned mischievously.

"ALRIGHT! Luke just summoned his stronger monster!" Roy yelled.

"Actually, it has to level up and THEN it will be the monster we all know," Angel corrected, and meanwhile on the other side, Kari observed with a stern look on her face.

-_Stronger monster? Level up? Crother, I just hope everything will turn out for you…I just don't like that lizard…-_

"C'mon big guy, your turn," Luke said.

"As you say," Crusher said drawing a card again. "Heh, now I'll use the card Double Spell! By sending one Magic card to the Graveyard from my hand, I can choose one Magic card from your Graveyard and use it as my own, and I choose, Swords of Revealing Light!" He laughed as he discarded the Magic card Combination Attack, and the very same swords that once came upon Crusher, were now forbidding Armed Dragon LV3 and Dark Blade to attack.

"And then, I'll place one card face-down," He said, finishing his turn. –_At least I want to have the necessary tributes on the field when _that_ card arrives…- _

"Good one, Bro!" Kari said from below, and received a nodding from her brother.

"Fine, my turn then," Luke said, and suddenly Armed Dragon LV3 began to glow.

"What gives…?" Crusher asked with awe.

"You see, my 'lizard's effect explains that after one turn, I can sacrifice Armed Dragon LV3 and bring from my deck or hand, in this case from my deck, Armed Dragon LV5 (2400ATK/1700DEF)!" Armed Dragon the disappeared in a flash of light, and when the same light dissipated, instead of the orange dragon there stood a mighty creature with spikes all around its body, even in the fists and face, which now looked at Crusher with the same challenging look from before.

"Grr…It seems I underestimated your monster…I should have taken care of it while I could…" Crusher muttered.

"Oh, and even if I can't attack thanks for these swords, I can still destroy your Des Dendle over there!" Luke pointed at his target.

"You're just lying!" Kari said.

"Oooh, believe me, I'm NOT lying! You see, if I discard one monster card from my hand whose attack is equal to or more than one of my opponent's monster, I can destroy the selected monster! Armed Dragon LV5, use your Dragon Flames!" He said, and discarding his 8-Claws Scorpion (800ATK/700DEF), Armed Dragon LV5 shot a beam a hot fire which destroyed some Swords of Revealing Light in its way, and finally incinerated Des dandle, leaving only ashes, blown by the wind.

"Say bye-bye to your Des Dendle for second time dude!" Roy said excited.

"Now, if it wasn't for those Swords of Revealing Light, Luke would have by now completely won against Crusher…" Angel sighed.

"Ahh, don't worry, he will pull out some other trick and win before you can say 'Hooray'!" Roy replied.

"Umm…'Hooray'?" Angel asked innocently.

"It's just a phrase you know…" Roy said added.

The status was now almost the same as before. Luke was still with a clean 2000 LP, and Crusher surviving with his 200 LP. On the field, Luke had his Armed Dragon LV5 and Dark Blade on the field, both in attack mode, and no magic or trap cards; while Crusher had no monster, but his Swords of Revealing Light active for two more turns of Luke, and also a face-down card. Luke had three cards in his hand and Crusher had nothing, again.

"My turn," Crusher said, making his hand have one card. –_YES! Only one more card to go, and I'll be able to summon _that_ behemoth of a monster!-_ "I'll just place this face-down monster and end my turn," Crusher said as a dark shadow of a card appeared on the field.

"Wow, Crusher is playing really quiet…" Angel said.

"Maybe he is just praying for those Swords of Revealing Light to continue on forever, as he has nothing!" Roy chuckled.

"Yeah, right! My brother will kick that guy's butt in less time that what you can think of!" Kari said hastily towards Roy.

"You really have faith in your brother, Kairi," Angel noticed.

"Well yeah, that is what I'm supposed to do, being her sister and all," She said, looking to the ground.

"Luke."

"Huh?" The mentioned person then looked at Crusher.

"I still want to see if you can accomplish your promise," Crusher said coldly.

"I have never failed in the promise's topic!" He grinned, now drawing a card. "And I hope you're not buying time for me to show you how can I do that," He continued.

"Haha, very funny. I would never leave you advantage."

"Oh, really?" He raised an eyebrow. "The let's see what YOU can do, your turn."

Crusher drew then a card smiling, but then his eyes widened in disbelief.

"Did he just draw…?" Kari gasped.

Crusher then shook his head, but said "Even though I didn't draw that, I think I can now draw it with what I just got."

"THEN DO IT ALREADY!" Roy yelled impatiently.

"Ok, I use Graceful Charity! This will let me draw three cards, but I'll have to discard two from my hand then," Crusher said as he swiftly drew three cards.

"Hehehe…HahahahHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Crusher then laughed, from the lowest whisper to the highest yell.

Luke gulped.

"At last…after so much waiting!" Crusher laughed, hastily throwing the two cards he had to send to the Graveyard according to Graceful Charity. "I now summon…"

This time, Angel and Roy gulped.

"…Y-Dragon Head (1500ATK/1600DEF)!" A metallic red dragon, sending spark beams all over the field then emerged from the sky above, and roaring with a metallic sound.

"Umm…It's not a weak monster but…Was that all?" Roy raised an eyebrow, a bit disappointed.

"Oh, believe me, you'll wish THAT was all! I also now Flip Summon, Z-Metal Tank (1500ATK/1300DEF)!" A gold-colored tank appeared on the field, with a queer eye looking at everybody.

"Umm…What a curious name they have…I mean that 'Y' and 'Z'…" Angel noticed.

"And then, I'll activate my trap card, Time Machine! This will let me revive a machine-type monster from my Graveyard, and it will be, X-Head Cannon!" He yelled, as his machine with two large cannons appeared on the field, ready to fight.

"Heeey, I remember that card! Luke destroyed it a while ago when using his Luster Dragon #2 combined with the card Burst Breath…" Roy added, and Luke suddenly gasped, with eyes like plates.

"Can it be…That 'X'…'Y'…and 'Z'…Union monsters?" He gasped.

"He found out…" Kari frowned.

"Doesn't matter, sis, as it's too late to prevent it now! And the curious thing about these three machines is, that they're not like any other Union Monster…Because, by removing all of the three at the same time from my side of the field, I can Special summon, without the need of the Polymerization card…My Ultimate Machine…XYZ-Dragon Cannon (2800ATK/2600DEF)!"

Immediately, all three machines then started to open shuttles, positioning themselves in determined positions, until finally, you could see how X-head Cannon was on the top, with its might cannon beams raised, stuck to it below was Y-Dragon Head, with its mouth open enough to charge and shoot more of those spark beams, and on the ground, stood the Z-Metal Tank, with two newly opened charge rays.

"Oh…My…God…" Angel gasped. Roy fainted. Luke let a faint girly scream.

"Impressed, aren't you?" Kari asked with a smirk.

"So, he was waiting for this all the duel…He even hid his Z-Metal Tank by positioning it face-down for my Armed Dragon LV5's effect…And so he did with his Time Machine, if he had used it, I would have surely destroyed X-Head Cannon with the same method…Astounding…" Luke analyzed the whole situation.

"DOESN'T MATTER!" Roy yelled waking up from his unconsciousness. "My pal still has his Armed—" And suddenly, after some Crusher's orders, XYZ-Dragon Cannon shot a MASSIVE attack made of any kind of beams and rays and sparks and light and…well, you got the point. Armed Dragon LV5 disappeared in a blink of an eye after the attack, and this time, not even the ashes of it could be seen.

"You were saying?" Crusher raised an eyebrow.

"Err…If you'll excuse me, I'll just scream like a little girl, and return to my unconsciousness!" Roy said, and after doing so, _and what a scream_, he simply fainted again.

"No…My Armed Dragon…" Luke couldn't believe what had just happened, even as his life points decreased to 1600.

"Heh, still think you can win against me now, Luke?" Crusher asked.

"Well, I must say it should take a miracle to win against you…" Luke's eyes were overshadowed as he looked at the solid metal of the arena platform. "But still…"

"But what?" Kari interrogated him.

"But still…I can't let good people like you think they can win they're lives just by stealing!" He then looked firmly at Crusher.

"Those eyes…They express without doubt courage…" Crusher muttered.

"I already made a promise…and won't fail to it!" Luke frowned, decided.

"Way to go, Luke!" Roy grinned from below.

"Go and get him with all you've got!" Angel shouted.

"But why…Why are you guys so decided in winning in this match? You weren't that heated when you were just playing for that deck and those star chips…" Kari wondered.

"Because…Even if it was just a while ago when we met…We feel as if you were by now friends, and we can't let you guys think as you do right now…Stealing is bad, even if it is from bad people, and although it was the bad people the ones who made your life worse, you can't go around deciding whose bad or not!" Angel said.

"Exactly! This isn't a match for a deck or a star, is a match to decide what will become of the hearts of two good people!" Luke said. "And believe me that I'll make sure those hearts turn to the good side…!"

"Geez…Alright, your turn…" Crusher sighed.

"I'll set a face-down monster, pass Dark Blade to defense mode, and end my turn."

As soon as Luke finished, the Swords of Revealing Light disappeared, vanishing in the thin air.

"Heh, I must tell you, putting up a defense won't do you good, thanks to my monster's effect…"Crusher said starting his turn.

"WHAT!" Luke exploded.

"Yeah, but well, I'll take the opportunity this card gives me and won't use it yet, as I now use Stop Defense!" He continued, and on the other side of the field, where Dark Blade stood, there appeared something like a magnetic force, that obliged Dark Blade to change to attack mode!

"That's what I'm talking about! The card I just used as you can see, changed the defense position of a monster to an attack position," Crusher chuckled.

"This is gonna hurt…" Luke gulped.

"Exactly! C'mon XYZ-Dragon Cannon! Use your Ultimate Chain Explosion!" Crusher yelled, as his monster charged once again, and when fired, a massive chain explosion occurred, hurting destroying n million pieces Dark Blade and reducing Luke's life points to 800!

"LUKE! Mate, are you ok?" Roy yelled, and luckily saw that his partner was in one piece.

"Yeah, I think so…Although I must say there are some parts hurting that I didn't even know they were there…" Luke admitted.

The score had drastically changed, with Luke having now 800 life points and Crusher with his 200. Luke held four cards, while Crusher, yet again, zero. And on the field, the only thing both players had was a monster: Crusher had his XYZ-Dragon Cannon, and Luke a face-down monster.

"Poor Luke…One more of those attacks and I don't know what will become of him!" Angel said, helplessly.

"Crusher HAS been pulling it out after Luke's comeback, but I know Luke will do the same with him!" Roy said firmly.

"I hope you're right…"

"Alright, my turn!" Luke said, drawing a card. –_Great, an equip card...Why should I need an equip card in this situation? Agh, I'm still concerned about that monster's effect Crusher just mentioned…Oh well, I'll throw the last defense in my hand…- _"I…I place a face-down monster and end my turn…"

"Ok, time to use my monster's effect!" Crusher announced, making Luke flinch. "And by discarding one card from my hand, I can destroy one card on your side of the field!"

"NO WAY!"

"Oh, yes way! And I'm choosing to destroy the monster on your left!" He yelled, as his monster fired a numerous amount of lasers, destroying Warrior Dai Grepher (1700ATK/1600DEF).

"And that doesn't mean I can't attack! So do it, XYZ-Dragon Cannon, use your Ultimate Chain Explosion once more!" He yelled, as his monster attacked once again, launching powerful beams of energy, this time destroying Serpent Knight Dragon (2350ATK/2550DEF).

"Your turn."

"You rock, bro! He has no defense to call upon now!" Kari said.

"She's right…If Luke puts only one more monster, he's done for, as Crusher will destroy it, and then attack…" Angel gasped. "That means Luke's going to…!"

"No…" Roy's eyes widened.

"She's right…" Luke's eyes were overshadowed again. "I have nowhere else to run…and that only means one thing…I'll have to **_FIGHT!_**" He finally added, with the very same eyes now of the last time, showing according to Crusher, nothing but courage.

"Show me what you're made of," Crusher said coldly.

"Okay," He said, slowing drawing a card…"And guess what, Crush you, I'll be the one who'll crush you!"

"Then show me the power you're speaking of!" Crusher grinned, excited.

"I'll first use the Warrior Returning Alive! This will let me bring back from my Graveyard a warrior to my hand! And I'll choose AND summon, Dark Blade!" He said, as his loyal dark knight appeared on the field once again.

"You're summoning THAT again? You think that warrior can do something about this whole situation?" Kari yelled.

"Shut up, sis. Let him show me his power, the power which never fails," Crusher said.

"Brother…" Kari said astonished.

"Then I'll equip him with this nice equip card, the Legendary Sword! This nifty card will increase my warrior's attack and defense by 300!" He exclaimed, as Dark Blade grabbed the Legendary Sword, while he grabbed the other twin sword with his dark and hidden mouth, as his stats increased to 2100 attack and 1800 defense points.

"Nice boost," Roy admitted.

"And finally, I'll use Monster Reborn!" Luke said.

"But there is nothing you use in your Graveyard, Luke!" Angel advised her friend.

"Ohh, you're right, but I'm not looking anything in _my_ Graveyard, but in _his_ Graveyard!"

"So you found out…" Crusher sighed.

"What are you talking about, brother?" Kari asked in disbelief.

"You see, when Crusher used Graceful Charity, he had to throw two cards in order to get his Y-Dragon Head, the card he desperately needed, and he had to make a big sacrifice…For now, I'll revive his Kiryu (2000ATK/1500DEF)!" He exclaimed, and so from the dark sky, descended a mighty beast, roaring with all its might, until it landed on Luke's side of the field.

"What a beautiful dragon…" Angel contemplated in awe.

"Yeah, but of what USE is that thing going to be for—unless…" Roy lastly corrected himself.

"Bingo. It's an Union Monster! And the only monster with whom it fuses with is my one and only Dark Blade! So now Kiryu, boost your new rider's attack and defense by 900, exactly as your effect explains!" Luke yelled, as his dragon let Dark Blade mount him, increasing Dark Blade's stats to 3000 and 2700 respectively!

"Impossible…" Kari said, falling to her knees.

"And even if Kiryu lets Dark Blade attack this turn to your life points directly; I prefer to take you head on!" He explained. "So let's finish this Dark Blade, use your last Dragon Blades!" He yelled, as his monster rushed forward, with the will of ending this duel once and for all…

Metaldix: YUP! Chapter finished!

Neverclaw: HEY! C'MON, why didn't you put the last attack?!

Metaldix: To leave a mini-cliffie! D

Neverclaw: . Whatever…Anyways, this took more than expected folks, but there you got it! So, until next time, which will be soon, see ya all! And REVIEW!


	10. Chapter 10

Neevrclaw: Yay, we reached the first chapter with two digits!

Metaldix: Ohh, but we're planning to do more than just two digits!

Neverclaw: But meanwhile, let's see Luke's final move!

Disclaimer: We do not own Yugioh!, but we would want to own it…TTTT

Chapter 10: Reconciliation and An Unexpected Meeting

"…Finish this Dark Blade, use your last Dragon Blades!" Luke yelled, as his monster rushed forward, with the will of ending this duel once and for all, and so he did, tearing apart XYZ-Dragon Cannon, as the monstrous machine fell over Crusher, reducing his life points to 0.

"Damn it…We lost…" Kari muttered, still on her knees, as a tear fell from her chin to the ground.

"Hey, it isn't that bad," Angel spoke up, right in front of Kari. "Now, c'mon and stand up!" She said, and extended a hand, which was grabbed by the other girl.

"Sooooo…Who owes me a deck and four star chips?" Roy cheered while dancing as he had never done before.

"Hey, don't take advantage ofr their loss, Roy," Luke scolded him as he descended from the arena.

"It's alright, after all, we _were_ wrong in stealing your stuff," Crusher admitted as he also descended from the arena.

"Now what did you say?" Luke's eyes widened with surprise.

"He said that _we_ were wrong in stealing your stuff!" Kari said, approaching his brother.

"Well said, sis," Her brother nodded with a smile.

Crusher then handed over Roy's deck, and tossed in the air the four star chips.

"Heeey, watch it!" Roy exclaimed while doing his best in grabbing the star chips in the air.

"Well, you deserve it for making fun of those two, you know!" Angel laughed.

"So, what now bro?" Kari asked with an innocent face.

"I sincerely don't know…I don't believe we'll both reach the finals having lost two stars each and having two days left…" Crusher sighed running a hand through his hair.

"No problem, keep'em!" Luke grinned.

"WHAT!" Roy exploded all of a sudden. "Luke, you _do_ realize that this is your opportunity to win four stars, and have eight in total?"

"Yup!"

"Hey, Luke, keep them, we'll manage to do something later," Crusher said extending a hand, which had four star chips.

"Now, since when did we say this was a duel for star chips? This was only for Roy's stuff!" Luke grinned.

"You…"Crusher then smiled.

"Luke's right, keep them, and who knows, maybe we'll meet another time!" Angel agreed.

"I don't think so," Kari suddenly commented.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Luke asked.

"We _will_ meet again, you want it or not!" Kari them smirked.

"Hehe, really? Well, that will mean I'll have to win against you both again!" Luke smiled.

"That wouldn't happen even in your dreams!" Crusher affirmed.

"Hmph, then we'll have to do a rematch right now!" Luke frowned.

"Ho ho ho, I think you guys had too much action for one night, as it is almost dawn you know! So no more duels until the morning, ok?" Angel pulled from the ear of her two friends, who were galvanized to agree.

"Well, what a 'nana' you have there, kids!" Kari smiled mischievously.

"Oh, shut up you…!" Roy was about continue, when Crusher positioned himself right in front of his sister.

"You were saying…?" He said colder than what a refrigerator could do.

"Umm…Hehe, nope, not a thing!" Roy replied to the human wall, and it was then when everyone laughed.

"Luke." Crusher said.

"What do you want now…" Luke spoke up from a sleeping bag nearby.

"DON'T SLACK OFF YOU IDIOT!" Crusher. Crushed. Luke.

"Ok, ok, what do you want!" Luke stood up, with lumps all over his face.

"We _have_ to express our thanks to you man, even if not by star chips."

"Hey, I thought we had resolved that problem!" Luke crossed his arms, eyes frowned.

"It doesn't matter if you accept it or not, we'll just give you these, what you do with them after you receive them, whether keeping them or throwing them, it won't concern me;" The big brother said, and handed over to Luke a pair of two cards.

"Hey, these two are…" Luke then stopped, as if words would spoil his contemplation.

"And I hope you _do_ keep them!" Kari smiled.

"Hey, where are your manners, Luke?" Angel patted Luke on the back.

"Oh yeah…Umm, thank you…" Luke muttered.

"I didn't hear you!" Kari replied, grinning.

"Argh, it should be Crusher the one who I should be thanking, not you!"

"Oh, is that so? Then you will have to thank me for this!" She said, and then embraced Luke with her arms, tightly placing her head right besides Luke's ear.

"W-what are you doing?" Luke blushed madly, removing himself from the girl's grasp.

"Wooo! I see steam coming from Luke's ears!" Roy grinned, fanning his head with his hand.

"He's right; you should have seen your face!" Kari laughed, pointing Luke with a humiliating finger.

"I'll get you for this…!" Luke shouted, cooling down at the same time, as everyone laughed, and as the sun rose, illuminating the clouds and the bright blue sky.

"Beep…Beep…Beep…Be—Hullo, Blake family?" A female voice spoke up from the telephone's line.

"Yes, Mrs. Blake peaking, who is it?" Another adult voice said through the line, with a sleepy tone.

"Oh, Margaret, it's me, apologies for calling this early in the morning but…" The first voice replied.

"Sally! How are the kids doing?" Margaret interrupted; this time in a much warmer and woken up tone, as if she was speaking with a childhood friend.

"Yes, about that…In fact, _I _was going to ask you about that," Sally started.

"What do you mean? Luke told me he was going to your house for a while…But now that you tell it, yes, it HAS been a while since he left…I guess, he coming right now and you were going to repot it to me, right?" She said.

"Umm…no. I was going to tell you the _same_ thing, Margaret…" Sally said.

"B-but Luke IS there, isn't he?" Margaret's tone passed to a more desperate voice.

"What I tried to say since the beginning, Margaret, is that my Roy told me _he_ was going to your house to play with Luke, and I've been waiting till late in the night for him!" Sally exclaimed, but what she heard through the phone was what seemed to be a swear, and then a hard PUM.

"I'm sorry, the phone slipped through my fingers…" Margaret apologized. "That little runt, where could he have now gone to…"

"Well, my Roy is a very good friend with your son, and would accompany him everywhere Luke would go…And last time you talked to me you said you were having some problems with him…"

"You don't possibly mean my dear Luke escaped, didn't you?" Margaret said with a disgusted expression.

"Well, it's just a supposition…" Sally muttered.

"The 'problems' we were having were that he insisted to go to an island for _three_ days, you hear me? And he wanted for me to pay him the entry, and the---Oh dear…"

"What? What has gotten in your mind?"

"No, he wouldn't do it…"

"He wouldn't do WHAT!" Sally yelled to the phone.

"Two days ago, he told me he wanted to go to an island, as it was a very important tournament, and this was the first time they were doing this…" Margaret explained.

"Tournament? Of what?" Sally inquired.

"Of a card game…Now, which was its name? I think it was something like '_Fuel Donsters_'…"

"Fuel what?"

"I don't know, I wasn't very interested in the idea of my son spending money on stuff one year later he will throw to the dustbin, to start with!"

"Hey, I think Harry could know something about this…"

"Harry? The father of that Angel girl, who usually hangs out with our kids…?" Margaret wondered.

"Yes, that man. I'll phone him and explain him what has happened; meanwhile you try to find out more about this island, location, and from which port they went to it."

"Roger that, best of lucks, Sally, and I hope your son is okay," Margaret said.

"Same for you, Margaret, until then, good-bye," Sally replied.

"Later," Margaret said, and cut off the phone.

-_Luke, I hope you're alright, and I damn well hope you don't do anything stupid while I'm not covering your back…-_ Luke's mother wished, while meanwhile…

"YEAH BABY! I didn't sleep at all and I feel like a new man!" Luke yelled out loud to the blue sky, once they had waved goodbyes to Crusher and Kari, who walked away in any direction in particular.

"Now wat just a second, you! You promised you would sleep until the morning!" Angel scolded.

"RIGHT! And guess what, the sun came up, and that means its morning, yay!" Roy replied, as he joined Luke in an 'Angel was defeated' dance.

"Oh Lord…I'm glad their mothers couldn't see this…" Angel sighed, and she then noticed how both Luke and Roy rushed off towards the usual arena spot, where the early duelists would be waiting for challenges.

"Hey, wait for me!" Angel yelled, trying to catch up.

Neverclaw: Aww, no duels!

Metaldix:  Oh well, we HAD to dedicate this chapter to what happened next after the last duels and to THA PARENTS! MWAHAHAHAHA!

Neverclaw: Um…Why the evil laugh?

Metaldix: Because…THEY ARE THA PARENTS!

Neverclaw: --'' So?

Metaldix: Weeeeeeeell…Umm…I…ARGH! CHANGING TOPIC! Those sibling are gone, but believe they'll come back for more!

Neverclaw: Uh-huh, and until then folks, read and review!

30/01/07: Editted Chapter 3's title, Chapter 4's Angel's comment about how she 'escaped' from her dad, and Chapter 5's duel with spelling, LPs miscalculations, and more.


	11. Chapter 11

Neverclaw: Ha, hello my followers! Today, we will conquer the world together!

Metaldix: I apologize to the audience; he didn't drink his medicine before starting this chapter...

Neverclaw: Heeey I heard you!

Metaldix: Geez…Why did I end up with _him_? Oh well, while I ask yself this…

Neverclaw: We'll put on the chapter! And then we'll conquer the world!

Disclaimer: We do not own Yugioh! And all its stuff, but Kazuki Takahashi does…Sniff…

Chapter 11: Sky assault!

As some birds chirped, Angel ran through the grasslands, tryig to catch up with her friends Luke and Roy, who were by now in the skyline. "I wonder from where they get all that energy…" She groaned, stopping to take a break. As she approached a tree to sit down, she found that her place was being occupied by a boy. Having a headband on his forehead and a spiky orange hair in an upward direction, he then glanced at the newcomer.

"Wow…If you weren't a man, I would call you Snow White," Angel chuckled, seeing as the man extended the arms, as a home man would welcome a guest in the front door, and all over the arms, stood little birds, eating seeds which were dropped upon the orange jacket.

"Well, I'll take that as a compliment," The boy grinned, while some birds flew with the new movement, and others came seeing a free space.

"So…Um…I'm surprised to see a man this early in the morning," Angel said taking a seat besides him.

"Well, I like to wake up at this hour, it's quiet, there aren't any kids yelling for duels or something like that. Besides, this is the perfect time to meet these beauties," The boy then glanced at the birds, which were fully entertained with those arms.

"And why are you here? I mean, you're accompanying some duelist or…?"

"Nah, I came here when I received Pegasus' invitation. Yup, I'm a duelist."

And suddenly, Angel noticed how two clouds of dust were approaching at a great speed, until they were right besides them, and when they dissipated, Luke and Roy were standing there!

"How the _hell _did you do _that_!" Angel demanded.

"You said you were a duelist, RIGHT?" Luke and Roy said with one voice, both ignoring Angel.

"Umm…Yeah," The boy said, freaked out by the newcomers.

"Then let's duel!" Both guys said in unison again, but this time they exchanged menacing looks.

"I'LL be the one who duels against him!" Luke roared.

"Ohhh no! I'LL be the one, you just dueled two guys and let them have their stars, not my problem!" Roy howled, and both of them started fighting in a recently formed cloud of dust, where fists and enraged faces appeare every once in a while.

"Umm…Who _are_ they, and what just happened…?"

"Geez…I'm sorry, but as I hate to admit it, they are my friends…And to inform you, they always act like that...The one with blue jacket is Luke, the other one is Roy. I'm Angel," She said, in part sighting, in part apologizing, and the rest ashamed of herself.

"Well, I must also apologize, I didn't present myself either. My name's Lance."

"ALRIGHT!" Roy exclaimed with a grin as he resulted to be the winner, although his face, and so was Luke's, was covered with purple places and a mountain of lumps.

"Okeeei, I will let you duel thish time, but only thish time!" Luke said, and fell to the ground seconds later.

"Hehe, alright, I'll duel you guys!" Lance chuckled, looking at the fallen Luke and at the injured Roy. "_If_ you can, that is."

"Lance? Are you sure about this…?"

"LANCE? Now you know his name? Oh, and what were you two exactly doing under a tree!" Roy snapped, with a father's authority.

"What—Oh, you're SO gonna regret saying that!" Angel said, rolling up her sleeve and clenching her fist with anger.

"Umm…Could you please not hurt my opponent, just until the duel is finished?" Lance spoke, interposing the two fighters.

"Geez…Ok, I just lost the nerve…" Angel sighed, accommodating now her sleeve to its normal position.

The two duelists then rose to their respective places in the nearest arena they found, which was split in half: The red side was covered in mountains, while the blue side had grass fields.

"You ready?" Lance smiled as he rose in the mountain side part.

"Uh-huh," Roy nodded on the blue side, placing his cards on their respective places.

"Oh! Almost forgot," Lance said, and he then whistled, and immediately a Blueberry bird came flying, and rested upon his master's shoulder.

"Aww, how cute!" Angel's eyes were replaced by hearts when seeing the magnificent bird appear.

"Oh, great, I have to duel against Birdman…" Roy passed a hand over his face. "Ok, 'Lance', I'll call the coin tails!" He said, and then the familiar coin appeared, and in instants, it was flipped into the air, but when it fell…it showed heads.

"Good, I'll be the first one to move!" Lance grinned, as the bird besides his head chirped with happiness. "And I'll use Polymerization to fuse my Blue-winged Crown (1600ATK/1200DEF) and Niwatori (900ATK/800DEF), to form my Punished Eagle (2100ATK/1800DEF) in attack mode!"

The ghostly figures of a crimson bird and what seemed a lazy white chicken vanished from the field, and appeared a black eagle, with a threatening sharp peak and claws; but the most queer thing was that its stats roe to an incredible 2600 attack and 2300 defense points!

"Wait a sec, don't tell me those mountains…!" Roy's ears wanted to shut themselves for not to hear the reply.

"Exactly, these mountains give a bonus to Winged-Beasts, Thunder, and Dragon-type monsters of the usual 500 attack and defense points," Lance explained.

"Thunder-type…? Aw, dammit, I should have also chosen that field!" Roy crossed arms in a grumpy way.

"Well, let's see what you can do in your turn, then," He said.

"Okaaay…I'll set summon a monster and place a card face-down…" Roy said with a depressed look. "Your turn."

"Wow, someone isn't inspired today…" Lance noticed as he drew a card.

"Ah-Ha! That's what you think! As it is your Stanby Phase now, I can activate my trap card, Thunder of Ruler!" Roy exclaimed. "I'm sorry to tell you this but, you now have to skip your Battle Phase until your next turn!"

"Hmph," That was all Lance could reply. "Doesn't matter, we'll attack next turn, right Avenger?" He exchanged looks with his pet, which nodded in affirmation.

"Ok, THAT freaked me out!" Roy's twitched with fear.

"What? Can't a normal guy name his bird mascot Avenger? Hush, anyways, I'll summon Skull Red Bird (1550ATK/1200DEF), and end my turn."

A creepy red bird then appeared, even as its stats rose to 2050 and 1700.

"Grr…That bonus isn't helping me at all…" Roy growled.

"Speak for yourself," Angel added.

"HEY! On whose side are you on! Oh well, I'll now summon my Batteryman AA (0ATK/0DEF), and then Flip Summon my face-down monster, another Batteryman AA!" He said as his two battery monsters appeared at the same time on the field, and then their attack points rose to 2000!

"Whoa, now THAT was a boost!" Lance gasped, and Avenger copied his master.

"You see, these monsters get a 1000 bonus for each copy of themselves in the field, and if all of them are in attack mode, like now, then that bonus will apply to their attack points only," Roy explained.

"Ohh, now I get it!" Lance said with a curious face, which with the dueling grid eemed to be a pupil with his desk.

"Yeah, well, I'll now use these two cards! First, Rush Recklessly, which will increase one of my monster's attack by 700 for this turn! And my other card will be Electro-whip, which will increase one of my Thunder-type monsters' attack and defense by 300, and I'm going to use these cards with each Batteryman AA I have!" The left Batteryman AA grapped the summoned whip, as his stats increased to 2300 attack and 300 defense points, while the other monster glowed with a recently made aura, which suddenly increased its attack to 2700!

"Wow, now every of your monsters is stronger than Lance's!" Angel gasped.

"Exactly! Go Batteryman AAs, use your Discharge on each monster of him!" Roy yelled as his Batteryman AA with the attack boosted by Rush Recklessly electrocuted the Punished Eagle, while the one with the Electro-whip passed the electricity to the Skull Red Bird with his whip, living a fried chicken ready to be eaten on the field.

"No…My birds…" Lance muttered, as his life points were reduced to 1650, while Avenger didn't dare to look at its fallen comrades.

"Well, your turn, Birdman!" Roy grinned, proud of himself. But his Batteryman AA's attack was returned to the normal 2000 attack points now that Rush Recklessly was gone.

"I must admit you pulled a good one, but I must tell you that I won't let your Batteryman AA stay any longer on the field! I now remove my Skull Red Bird from the game, to Special Summon my Garuda, the Wind Spirit (1600ATK/1200DEF) in attack mode!" He yelled as a phantom image of Skull Red Bird appeared and disappeared, a crimson beast was summoned: it was half human and half bird, because its head was the same of an eagle, and also its giant wings. Its attack and defense points then rose to 2100 and 1700 respectively.

"Uhh…Just to tell you, my Batteryman AA is stronger thanks to the Electro-whip…" Roy explained, wishing he had left Lance embarrassed.

"Yeah, but what WOULD happen if I attack the _other_ Batteryman AA, eh?" Lance smirked, as his monster flew right towards the unequipped Batteryman AA, and destroyed it completely with its beak and claws, leaving Roy with 1900 life poits.

"WHAT!" Roy yelled, as his only Batteryman AA's attack was decreased by 1000, to a mere 1300.

"I get it! When Roy's Batteryman AA was destroyed, the other Batteryman AA's attack was decreased because it no longer had another 1000 bonus attack points that the lost monster gave, so Lance attacked it to decrease the 2300 attack points to 1300!" Angel eyes widened.

"Darn it…" Roy bit his lip. "But at least it's my turn, and so I'll change my Batteryman AA to defense position, and place this face-down monster…"

And as Roy ended his turn, his Batteryman AA changed to attack position itself!

"Heeey, I ordered you to stay in defense position! Or do you want to be destroyed by that Garuda monster?" Roy asked the monster, a useless action.

"In fact, that's the ability of my Garuda, the Wind Spirit, at the end of your turn; I can change the battle position of one of your monsters," Lance explained with a big smile.

"No…!" Roy gasped at his defenseless monster.

"Oh yes!" Lance replied, as his bird chirped. "But first, I'll summon my Faith Bird (1500ATK/1100DEF)!" A beautiful silver bird then flew to Lance's side of the field, with a long tail moving as its wings flapped to stay in the air, while its stats rose to 2000 and 1600 points.

"Aww, what beautiful bird!" The girl from below said.

"Oh sure, admire the opponent's monsters!" Roy frowned.

"Hey, if it wasn't for him I would have kicked your—"

"Umm…May I proceed?" Lance asked innocently, and both Roy and Angel apologized looking at the ground. "Ok, and NOW it's time to attack! Garuda the Wind spirit, destroy Roy's Batteryman AA with your Sky attack and Faith Bird attack the hidden monster!"

Garuda flew once again, approaching at full speed Batteryman AA, and the crush made Roy lose 800 life points, leaving him with 1100; while Faith Bird destroyed Roy's Tripwire Beast (1200ATK/1300DEF)!

"All that defense for nothing…" Roy said between clenching teeth.

"Wow, Lance just recovered himself…" Angel said. "C'mon Roy…Show him your power…" She then added.

The stats were now the following: Roy had 1100 life points, and Lance was in the lead with 1650. Roy had nothing on his side of the field with two cards in his hand, and Lance had his Garuda the Wind Spirit and Faith Bird both in attack mode, having three cards in his hand.

-_C'mon…I can't duel to this fake copy of Birdman…Please, give me something good…!_-

"Ok, good enough! I'll now use Pot of Greed, a card which will let me draw two more cards!" The common pot the appeared on the field, and from it emerged two cards.

"ALRIGHT! I now discard from my hand my Thunder Dragon (1600ATK/1500DEF), to bring straight from my deck two more!" He exclaimed as he searched through his deck the mentioned cards and then shuffled his deck.

"And that was for…?" Lance raised an eyebrow.

"To friggin' FUSE them, baby!" He laughed as he used his Polymerization to fuse the two serpent dragon and form the Twin-Headed Thunder dragon (2800ATK/2100DEF).

"Oh my God!" Lance gasped as he saw the huge beast roar at him, even Avenger lost its balance.

"Good job, Roy! Even without a bonus, your monster's attack is higher than all of Lance's monsters!" Angel shouted.

"Heh, decided to pass to my side now?" Roy smirked.

"Well, hehe, yeah, I guess…" She replied.

"Anyways, go my Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon, use your Twin Lightning on that pesky Garuda the Wind Spirit!" He yelled, as his monster invoked a massive lightning that shocked completely Garuda the Wind Spirit, destroying it and bringing Lance's life points to 950.

"You…are going to _pay_ for that!" Lance yelled, now drawing a card, and a smile was then formed on his face. "And with _this_, shall make you say sorry to my monsters!"

"W-what do you mean?" Roy started sweating.

"I think he just drew something good, Roy…" Angel gulped.

"You're correct ma'am, add I'll use it right NOW!" Lance yelled, holding the powerful card he was about to play…

Neverclaw: Oh God! What can be that very card he was just holding?

Metaldix: And will Roy be able to survive after it?

Neverclaw: There's only one way to find out!

Metaldix: READING, BABY! Oh, and to those who are still wondering when will Luke wake up, or to those who are wondering when the hell is he going to play the cards Crusher gave him…

Neverclaw: Don't worr, 'cuz we won't forget about them!

Metaldix: And meanwhile, review please!

31/01/07: We just re-edited the Babyface Fred duel, as it had MASSIVE mistakes, and we TOTALLY changed the duel, read if you want to see the final draft of chapter 6!


	12. Chapter 12

Metaldix: Aaaaand here we are, in chapter 12!

Neverclaw: And which is that damn card Lance is about to play?

Metaldix: Only one way to find out, READING!

Disclaimer: Okay, those two asked me to read this paper…Mmm…Oh, what is this? Yugioh! Isn't owned by us, what a surprise!

Chapter 12: Sky assault! (Part two)

The sun was now high up in the sky, and the duel between Roy and Lance continued.

Roy had one card in his hand and 1100 life points, and Lance had four cards in his hand, one just drawn and 950 life points. On the field, Roy had his Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon in attack mode, while on the other side Lance had his Faith Bird

"C'mon, play it, NOW!" Roy demanded.

-_Maybe I talked too much…This card IS powerful, but I need something else to take down that powerful dragon of Roy's…-_ Lance thought, looking at his hand. "You know what? I err…Change my Faith Bird to defense mode, and I'll let you an advantage turn!" Lance grinned innocently.

"Huh? Well, if you say so…" Roy laughed nervously, now drawing a card.

"….Uuuhh…" A voice behind Angel groaned, which made her blood freeze. "My head…It aches so—Woah, why do I have these injuries!" Luke gasped touching all his destroyed face.

"Phew…It's just you…" The girl sighed, helping him to stand up. "Roy is now dueling against Lance, a person who seems to use Winged-beast monsters, and even though he is losing, according to him he just drew something very good, but he some why let Roy an advantage turn…"

"Oh, for God's sake! That guy was just trying to scare Roy!" Luke yelled, calmly seating on the fresh grass.

"Heeey, is that so?" Roy then suspiciously looked at Lance.

"W-what? No! I wasn't lying!" Lance waved his hands. "This was all a misunderstanding, right Avenger?" He looked at his blue pet, with nodded in affirmation,.

"…Avenger?" Luke raised an eyebrow. "Now it's official, I'm TOTALLY freaked out!"

"Hehe, it's a long story, I'll then explain everything to you…" Angel said, calming down his confused friend.

"Geez…I never thought it coming from you…Lying to your opponent!" Roy shook his head disappointed.

"Argh! I'm giving you my—Why are we discussing about MY hand? J-just play!" Lance moved his hands frantically, as if they were the ones which were talking.

"Okay, and now I'll summon a face-down monster, and attack your Faith Bird with my Twin-Headed Thunder dragon, Twin Lightning!" He yelled as his monster created another thunder, which shocked Lance's bird and destroying it.

"Your turn."

-_C'mon…I must get that card…!_- Lance gulped, and drew…"You said before that I was lying, right? Time to show you I wasn't! I now summon, Rallis the Star Bird (800ATK/800DEF)!" He yelled, as a little fenix covered with red glowing armor appeared on the field, as its both points rose to 1300 because of the field bonus.

"Was THAT all?" Roy said, and started laughing, pointing at the little bird.

But down below, Luke wasn't acting the same way Roy was. Could it have a special ability? Or it was just a doll to be equipped with a powerful equip card? "…?

"No, that's not all, I'll now equip it with Follow Wind, to increase my Winged-Beast monster's stats by 300, and Rallis' attack and defense rose to 1600.

"Oh noooooooooo! I'm going to lose!" Roy couldn't contain himself, as he was now swimming in a pool made of tears.

"You dare to insult my monsters? Let's see what you think when I _attack your Twin-Headed Thunder dragon with my monster_! Go, Rallis the Star Bird, use your Meteor Crash!" He yelled, as his puny bird rushed towards Roy's monster!

"WHAT!" Roy yelled as he rose from the swimming pool.

"That's suicide!" Angel gasped, but then…

Rallis took a bigger form; the armor was increasing its proportions, until it was a MASSIVE fire bird attacking a little lizard!

"WHAT IS THAT?!" Luke exploded.

The behemoth annihilated the Twin-Headed Thunder dragon, by crushing itself with the target, engulfing the field in flames which seemed to be the feathers of the monster, and when the field was clear enough to see through, Rallis the Star bird was on Lance's side of the field, in its previous and tiny form!

"Explain yourself!" Roy pointed his opponent with a threatening finger, while his life points were shrunk to 900.

"You see, Rallis effect boosts its attack equal to the number of stars the level of my target has per 200 during the Damage step only," Lance explained.

"English please?" Angel looked at Luke with a nervous smile.

"What an interesting monster…Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon had a level of seven stars, meaning that Rallis the Star Bird's attack was boosted by 1400…meaning that that huge bird's attack was of 3000…Astounding…" Luke muttered.

"We have a smart one there," Lance chuckled.

"THAT was why you didn't attack me the turn you got it! Because you didn't have in that moment the equip card Follow Wind, and without it your Rallis would have had 2700 attack points the moment it attack me!" Roy said with a triumphant exclamation.

"But if that effect only applies to the Damage step only…" Angel muttered.

"Then that means I can still destroy it Magic or Trap cards!" Roy grinned, but suddenly, Rallis the Star Bird disappeared in a flash of light!

"Huh?" Luke raised a broken eyebrow.

"Oops, forgot to tell you its _other_ effect: When it finishes attacking, it is removed from play until my next Battle Phase!" Lance smiled from ear to ear.

"Anything else? I'm surprised that thing doesn't have ANOTHER effect!" Roy said sarcastically. "But at least now you're wide open for a direct attack!"

"You think so? Well then, I'll place a face-down card and let the rest to you…" A face-down card hologram then appeared on the field.

-_That face-down card he just placed…Could it be a trap, or just something to scare me? I don't care if it's a trap…It's my only chance to attack, and if I don't that Rallis will come back for more!- _

"Well, it's a pity I couldn't use his effect properly, but now I'll summon the powerful Zaborg the Thunder Monarch (2400ATK/1000DEF)!" He yelled, as a Giant appeared on the field, with what seemed ball made of gathered lightning in his hands.

"Go an' get him, Roy!" Angel screamed, jumping to add more enthusiasm.

"That's what I'll do; but first, I'll place a face-down card! Go my monarch, attack with your Lightning Blasts!" Zaborg the Thunder Monarch then extended arms, and the electrical balls suddenly charged towards Lance!

"Almost there…!" Luke eyes widened as the electrical holograms got near and nearer to its target.

"Not if I activate my trap card, Enchanted Javelin!" He yelled right in time, as everything was so fast words couldn't describe the action.

A javelin appeared from the nowhere drained Zaborg the Thunder Monarch's attack, and Lance gained life point until he reached 3350, but the lighting beams then hit him, returning his life points back to 950.

"What just happened?" Angel asked confused.

"My Enchanted Javelin could give me the life points equal of an attacking monster's attack just in time…" Lance thanked God, recovering the breath after the attack.

"I see…And then Zaborg's attack inflicted the same amount of damage Lance had regained, and now it's as if nothing had happened," Luke grinned.

"It seems you don't want to give up Birdman, eh?" Roy smirked.

"Nor you do," Lance returned the expression.

"Well then, it's your turn."

"Oh yeah, and you DO now what we'll happen right? Even Avenger knows!" Lance grinned, as his bird stood in a battle position. "But first, I'll summon Takuhee (1450ATK/1000DEF) in attack mode!" He said, as a gray winged beast descended from the skies and thanks to the field bonus its stats rose to 1950 attack and 1500 defense points.

"And now…I'll enter my Battle Phase!" He yelled and a loud screech was heard: Rallis the Star bird was coming back for more.

"Uh-oh…" Roy gulped.

"Oh yeah! Rallis, use your Meteor Crash!" He yelled, as his fenix advanced towards Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, taking a bigger form, until its attack rose to 2600!

"Shit!" Roy shielded himself with his arms, as his life points decreased slowly to 700. s

"Such power…" Luke contemplated Rallis, as the smoke cleared from the field.

Now the odds HAD changed considerably: Roy had no cards in his hand, some mere 700 life points, and some a mere face-down monster. Instead, Lance had three cards in his hand, a somewhat better score in life points than Roy, 950, and one the field hovered Rallis the Star Bird, which had just attacked, and Takuhee, eagerly waiting to attack.

"It's your time, Takuhee! Attack that face-down monster!" Takuhee attacked and destroyed as ordered, a monster which resembled a lizard, thick lips, and blue skin.

"The monster you just attacked was my Electric Lizard (850ATK/800DEF), and if the monster which destroyed it wasn't a Zombie-Type one, then unfortunately I must inform you that it won't be able to attack during your next turn!" Roy explained, and his Electric Lizard just before disappearing paralyzed completely Takuhee, leaving the bird groaning on the flat ground of Lance's. Shit!

"Very well then, I'll end my turn," Lance said, disappointed of his temporally immobilized monster and Rallis immediately took off, leaving Takuhee in charge.

"Man, if this keeps up, Roy won't stand a chance against that Rallis! With all those boosts coming from the field and magic cards, it's invincible!" Angel exclaimed.

"There's not a thing we can do to change that, Angel," Luke sighed.

-_They're right…That Rallis will destroy everything, as its attack is ALSO boosted from its target's sta—THAT'S IT!_-

"I GOT IT!" Roy unconsciously jumped in the midair.

"Huh? What was that for?" Birdman asked.

Roy grinned. "I discovered your Rallis' weakness!"

"Yeah right, my monster has no weakness!"

"Yes it does, and I'm going to prove it to you right now!" Roy nodded, now drawing a card. "And I got the PERFECT card to show it to you!" He said, as he placed a face-down monster on the field.

"Your turn."

"Oooookaaaay, now I'm confused," Lance frowned, looking at Roy as a psycho. "I'll just destroy that monster with my Rallis the Star Bird, as always!" His shoulders shrugged, as he called his mighty winged-beast to the field.

"H-he's right!" Luke's eyes widened, standing up with eyes widened.

"He's NOT right!" Lance replied. "Don't you get it? If any monster attacks Rallis, my bird's attack will be boosted by its number of star points per 200, I already explained it to you!"

"Oh yeah? And tell me, what happens when it attack a _face-down_ monster?" Roy smile grew even wider.

"Face-down mon--? W-well…"

"Don't 'well…' me! You perfectly know what would happen! Your bird cannot win against what it cannot see!"

"…You're right…But even if that's true, I won't by any means attack a face-down monster with Rallis the Star Bird, not with these life points of mine, it's too risky!" Lance decided.

"Uh-huh, and one more question, what _would_ happen if it attacked?" Roy raised an eyebrow.

"W-what?"

"You heard me, what would happen if it attacked my monster?" Roy repeated.

"Weeeell, I don't know its defense, but if it was higher, it would inflict the difference of its defense and my attack to my life points…" Lance answered nervously.

"Oh _really_?" Roy smirked. "Then if you don't want to attack me, _I'll_ make you attack!"

"No way! You can't do that, I won't agree in any way!"

"I don't think so! Not if I activate my trap card, Staunch Defender!" Roy yelled, as his face-down card was revealed.

"What does that exactly do?" Lance inquired, as sharp as a policeman would do, and suddenly, he saw how Rallis the Star bird prepared to attack! "Hey, I didn't order you to do anything!"

"Don't blame it; because with my Staunch Defender, by selecting one of my own monsters, it will make everyone of your monsters desire to attack it!"

"NO!" Lance yelled, trying to stop his monster with word. Useless thing.

Rallis the Star Bird then flew with all its might toward the unknown monster, even though it was not transforming into its bigger form.

"Oh yeah, now that Roy's monster is face-down, that bird can't know its star points, and therefore not boost its attack!" Angel exclaimed.

"But to beat me, your monster has to have a defense of 2550 or more!" Lance grinned, knowing that defense power was impossible to achieve.

"Ohhhh believe me, I've got MORE than that, as the monster Rallis attacked was…The Creator (2300ATK/3000DEF)!" His monster was revealed, and it was the familiar giant obliterator, this time in an impenetrable position, until it summoned a thunder, a thunder which totally annihilated Rallis the Star bird, a thunder which totally annihilated Lance's life points.

"He DID it!" Angel yelled happily.

"Heh, good job, Roy," Luke smiled to himself.

"How could I let him do that…" Lance slammed his fists against the dueling grid. "I'm sorry, Rallis…"

"Hey, don't push yourself like that man," Roy spoke up, descending from the arena. "I mean, nobody could have done a thing in that moment."

"It doesn't matter…It was my fault after all…" Lance sighed, s his eyes were overshadowed.

"No it wasn't! And besides, it's just a friggin' card, dude!" Luke jumped into the conversation.

Lance's eyes then lift up, his head shaking from one side to the other. "No they're not. You guys maybe don't understand what I mean about this, but you'll later understand what I mean. Anyways, thanks for the consolation, and sorry to act like an idiot…Especially to you, Aveger," He then extended a finger and his blue bird flew from the shoulder to the little finger, happily chirping.

"Monsters aren't not only cards, eh?" Luke repeated, putting a hand over his chin.

"Nah, don't think about it that much! Oh, and Roy, here are two star chips for the respective winner," He said, hanging over to the red-haired boy two golden stars, which were then included in his Duelist glove, making six stars in total.

"Aww, not fair! You have now more stars than I do!" Luke scowled, grabbing his friend's glove.

"So, I guess you'll be lending me now at least one star…"

"You wish! Go and steal someone's star chips elsewhere!" Roy barked.

"Sniff…Just one?" Luke said, making a pair of puppy eyes, but received a fist in return.

"Ask again, and you'll be knocked off like before!" Roy said, but Luke rapidly recovered, and assaulted Roy, and both disappeared in a cloud of dust.

"Geez…Not again…" Angel sighed, rolling her sleeves up once again, but was stopped by a hand.

"May I help?" Lance asked with a nervous smile as te girl turned to see the hand's owner.

"Sure, oh, and use the Duelist glove to whack harder."

Neverclaw: Chapter twelve, finished!

Metaldix: Yup, and glad of doing so.

Neverclaw: Heh, didn't expect that Rallis monster, didn't you?

Metaldix: 3 But I AM glad of having found that card on the internet!

Neverclaw: Stay tuned for more, guys!

Metaldix: Although don't expect anything for this weekend, as the writer will be absent this Saturday and Sunday!

Neverclaw: And once again, I'll be alone…Yay, two days of no edition!

Metaldix: :C Isn't editing fun?

Neverclaw: Umm…HELL NO!


	13. Chapter 13

Metaldix: Hello, everyone! And if any authors are reading this, it's because you like this story!

Neverclaw: Or maybe they're just reading it to then criticize us…

Metaldix: Don't say that! That's not true……….Is it? enters in a state of shock

Neverclaw: Hum, Metaldix? Buddy? Are you alright?

Metaldix: They just criticize…Criticize…

Neverclaw: You've always been a freak, but now, you're crossing the line…

Anyways, let's start the chapter! While I see how can I help this psycho…

Disclaimer: Geez, I _hate_ this job…We do not own Yugioh character such as Rex Raptor, or Mai Valentine…ZOMG! SPOILERZ!

Chapter 13: Victory of the famous or Famous Victory?

As the sun was by now falling, Luke was trying to look for someone to duel with, but they were all somehow busy: some were dueling at the moment, others were…umm, NOT AVAILABLE!

"Why don't you just wait until tomorrow, Luke? Maybe you'll have more luck by then," Angel suggested, knowing she was asking for the impossible.

"Yeah right, and let that buffoon laugh at me the whole day for having two dman more star chips? No. Friggin'. Way." The boy replied, not even turning to face her, as he was already too busy looking for someone to duel with.

"Buffoon? Who are you—" Angel started, and then noticed how Roy stood in Luke's way, laughing at him, rolling over the floor, and making a swimming pool with his own tears.

"Oh. Okay, then, why don't we sit down and wait someone to pass?" Angel suggested once again, tired of walking without direction, until she started sniffing as with eyes closed. "Hey, isn't that…cologne?"

"Cologne? Who the hell would--" Luke turned this time, but his eyes then dashed to the other side, when he heard a yell, a blonde woman it was.

"You! The one with red hair!"

"Who? Me?" Roy looked at the girl's violet eyes, who wore a short sleeve purple coat over a white tube top.

"Think you can win at a young girl like me in a duel?" She said, putting a finger on her lips, and making an innocent face.

"Uhh…Hehe, yeah, whatever you say…" Roy drooled, glancing from her golden hair, down to her skirts and boots.

"WHAT! Roy, come over here a sec!" Luke jumped in, dragging his hypnotized friend aside.

"C'mon pal, you just played with that Birdman, let me handle her, please…" He begged, kneeling down.

"B-but she looked at me!" Roy yelled aloud, as a big drop of saliva dropped to Luke's jacket.

Offended, Luke have him a slap, and one which didn't exactly sound good. "HEY! Snap it, would ya?"

"HUH? Wha-What happened?" Roy woke up from his dream, shaking his head. "Ouch…My head aches…"

An idea instantly popped up in Luke's mind. "Weeeeell, you were just about to let me duel against that girl over there," He grinned, pointing at the challenger.

"Who—Woah, she's gorgeous!" Roy beat Luke's grin, this one running all over his face, and entering the 'drool state' again.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Geez, I'll leave him to you, Angel!"

"Wha--!" An astonished Angel caught the flying Roy, and noticed how Luke walked up to the girl.

"Prepare yourself, 'cuz I'll be the one defeating you today! Luke Blake for you!" Luke exclaimed, raising a closed fist.

"Ok, honey, then what are you waiting for?" She asked heading for the arena when a small boy with excessively large hair, a jacket and a yellow shirt blocked her way.

"That's not fair Mai! I challenged you first; I want a rematch after that duel on the cruiser!" The boy barked, swinging his two-colored, light blue at the top and dark brown at the bottom, from side to side.

"Don't bother now, Rex, I won fair and square at that time! But for now, just do me a favor: get out of the WAY!" The taller one replied, not daring to move him with her hands.

After these two comments, Luke was left as an astonished man. "Wait a sec, y-you're Mai? M-mai Valentine?" Luke asked timidly, and Mai Valentine glared at him.

"Do you have any problem with that?" She asked with a threatening look, despite her innocence just a while ago.

"No, no, just curious…" Luke muttered, shrinking to an ant size. He was about to duel against a famous duelist, Mai Valentine! And besides, he was standing in front of a renowned champion, Rex Raptor!

"I told you to get out of my way, Rex!" She repeated and this time, Rex moved aside, growling.

–_I hope she doesn't kick my butt…_- Luke gulped, approaching now the dueling arena, which had a mountain-half side of the field, and on the other side, there were grasslands.

-_Okay, my deck includes mainly warriors and dragons, and with those grasslands, my warrior's attack and defense will rise, so better go and take it before she does!_- Luke thought, hurrying himself to the red side of the battleground.

Cheering for Luke, were Roy and Angel. And in the other hand, Rex Raptor wasn't exactly rooting for Mai, instead, he wasted his words telling her to surrender and to duel against him.

"Umm…What's the matter with Luke?" Angel whispered to Roy's ear, pointing at the now paralyzed Luke.

"Heh, maybe just by thinking he is dueling against a famous duelist his blood runs cold!" He chuckled, but received another slap from Angel.

"I sincerely don't know why we hang out with you…"

"C'mon tough boy, I call the coin flip heads!" Mai said, as the familiar holographic yet realistic coin appeared on the field, and by an invisible force it was flipped.

Heads.

"Oh yeah baby, I'll be going first," She continued, and then drew six cards, but for everyone's surprise, she just placed them on her dueling grid, face-down. "Ohh…Nice cards…"

"How can she say that? She didn't even see them!" Angel raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, I will summon my Birdface (1600ATK/1600DEF) in attack mode, and leave the rest for you," She said, as a seemingly half-eagle and half-human monster appeared on the field. Birdface's attack and defense points immediately rose to 2100, as a result it looked even fiercer.

"Oh no, not again…" Roy sighed, running a hand over his face.

"The mountains on my side of the field increase the attack of Winged-Beast type monsters by 500, and my Birdface _was_ a Winged-Beast monster," She explained, also putting a face-down card and the four other cards which were left were put beside the reader. Still, not even a glance.

"B-but how?" Luke asked.

"Wow, she didn't even look at her cards! THAT'S creepy!" Roy gasped from down below.

"Impressed? That's _my_ secret, think you can beat me?" She smirked, ending the turn while doing so.

"Okay…Everything is alright…I have six cards…We're wagering two stars…And the fact that I'm playing against an international player doesn't change anything…" Luke gulped, nervously mad. Yeah, how ironic.

"Geez, Luke, what do you think that would happen if you dueled against Yugi Muto?" Roy asked, and it was seconds after when Luke reacted.

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean _is_, that if this is how you duel against someone, how would YOU react in front your beloved, err…idol?"

Sparks of light then flashed in Luke's eyes with determination. "Hmph, you're RIGHT! I shall beat this Mai, and then confront him with all my might!"

"Could you just PLAY!" Mai yelled from the other side.

"Yes, ma'am…" Luke muttered in his ant-size. "Alright, I'll place this face-down card and summon my Warrior Dai Grepher (1700ATK/1600DF)!" He said as his muscular knight wielding a glowing sword appeared on the field, with his stats boosted to 2200 and 2100 respectively because of the plains on his own side of the field.

"Now my monster, attack her Birdface! Use your Sword of Dragons!" Luke ordered while his warrior rushed up to Birdface and beheaded it in a one clean swipe of his blade, even as Mai's life points were reduced to 1900.

"And Luke inflicts the first hit!" Angel exclaimed with a tiny smile.

"I'm sorry to tell you this kid, but now that you destroyed my Birdface, it's effect is activated! I can bring one Harpie Lady (1300ATK/1400DEF) from my deck, to my hand," Mai said, taking the card from her deck without looking at it once again, and adding it to her unknown hand.

"Hey, how can I know it was the Harpie Lady the card you just took, you didn't put an eye on it!" Angel accused her, but Mai then showed her by summoning the very same card she had just taken, which resulted to be a beautiful woman-shaped animal with wings.

"See? This is my Harpie Lady," She said, as the lady's stats shot up to 1800 attack and 1900 defense. The hologram winked at Luke, who flushed scarlet.

"It looks like my Harpie Lady is rather _fond_ of you."

Roy and Angel both sweatdropped in unison.

"Then, I'll place a face-down and use this magic card of mine, Elegant Egotist! As there is one Harpie lady on my side of the field, I am able to summon my Harpie Lady Sisters (1950ATK/2100DEF), and its coming straight from my deck!"

Besides the Harpie Lady, there appeared three more of them, only these ones wore some armors and looked ready to strike with their boosted stats, which were 2450 attack points and 2600 defense points. "With my girls, I'll attack your handsome warrior with Trio Tornado!" She winked at Luke, who blushed madly as his warrior was destroyed, lowering his LP to 1750.

"HEY! Would you stop doing that? It's annoying!" Angel looked furiously at Mai, who ignored her shout, while Roy sweatdropped yet again.

"Ha, as I expected, that rookie didn't last very long…" Rex murmured audibly.

"I hate to say it, but he's right. I'll now attack you with my Harpie Lady and finish with your life points, hon! Attack with Siren Screech!" The blond woman winked once again, as her monster wailed, and as Angel yelled.

"I don't think so, because I activate my Enchanted Javelin, which will increase my life points equal to the attacking monster's attack!" Luke exclaimed, as a javelin appeared right in front of him, absorbing the sound waves, increasing Luke's life points to 3550, but it then was lowered to 1750, because of Harpie Lady's second Siren Screech.

"I get it, you healed you life points just in time before my Harpie Lady attacked…" She frowned seriously.

"Argh! That was a damn close victory!" Rex roared, wishing the duel had just finished.

"Geez…He's not playing well…" Roy lamented.

"What do you mean? He saved himself with that Enchanted Javelin card he just played," Angel replied while glaring at Mai with fire beams.

"If he had activated that trap card when Mai's Harpie Lady Sisters had attacked his Warrior Dai Grepher, he would have now 2000 life points again. The point is that he is too distracted with Mai's…erm…commentaries…" Roy added at last.

"Is that so, uh? Well, he better win or else…" She cracked her knuckles, making Roy sweatdrop…………………………again.

On the field, Luke possessed nothing, nor magic or trap cards nor monsters, but Mai had her Harpie Lady Sisters and Harpie Lady, both in attack mode. Luke had 1750 life points, but Mai was in the lead with 1900. Luke had four cards in his hand, and Mai had three.

-_I've got to make this turn count, or else I wouldn't have even supported three turns playing against her…-_ Luke thought, drawing a card with his eyes closed. He then little by little opened them, and a huge smile spread over his face.

"He just drew what he needed!" Angel remarked, grabbing Roy's arm and pulled it with enthusiasm.

"Ok, Mai! It's time for my comeback!" Luke said. "First, I will summon my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (1400ATK/1200DEF)!" An elf swordsman clad in green emerged onto the field, as his stats were increased to 1900 attack and 1700 defense points.

"Okaaay, that warrior is still weaker than my Harpie Lady Sisters…" Mai chcuckled, but was surprised Luke didn't change his mind.

"Not if I use THIS! I now equip it with the Sword of Dragon's Soul, a nifty card which will increase my warrior's attack by 700 astounding points!" He grinned, as his Obnoxious Celtic Guardian grabbed a massive sword which emanated an astonishing force, which shot its wielder's attack points to 2600.

"C'mon my monster, show those ladies who's the boss here! Attack them with your Obnoxious Dragon attack!" Luke commanded, as his monster did what told, slashing the Harpie Lady Sisters one by one with each blade of his, and reducing his opponent's LP to 1550.

"Oh Mai, don't tell me you're losing against a rookie!" Rex Raptor chuckled.

"Shut your trap, at least I won against _you_," Mai replied coldly, leaving Rex mute.

What had kept Roy uncomfortable during the entire duel up to now was that Angel was still sniffing around.

"What's wrong with you, Angel?" He asked turning to her.

"It's just that- I smell something familiar, but I can't say what it is…" She paused.

"Okaaay, tell me if you _smell_ something suspicious…" Roy replied, earning his a kick in his crotch.

"Ha, if you think you're done with me just because you destroyed one of my monsters, then you're wrong, as I got a Harpie arsenal waiting to be unleashed!" She said drawing a card, but still not looking at it.

"Mmm…Interesting…" She smiled, as if she could feel the very same card.

–_How can she do that? There must be a trick…_- Luke said to himself, but then spoke aloud. "Are you going to play or what?"

The blond woman then opened her eyes, knowing what she had to do.

"Ok, babe, time to teach you a lesson you won't forget!" She laughed. "I'll use my Harpie's Feather Duster! This lovely card will destroy every Magic and Trap card on your side of the field, so say good-bye to your Sword of Dragon's Soul!"

A feather appeared on the field, over Luke's monster, swept at the Sword of Dragon's Soul, and with just that Obnoxious Celtic guardian's ATK and DEF decreased back to 1900 and 1700.

"Damn…" Her opponent muttered with closed teeth.

"And now, I use another Elegant Egotist! As you know, this can Special Summon another Harpie Lady Sisters to my side of the field from my deck or hand, and this one is coming from my deck again!"

And her familiar harpies then appeared on the field once again.

"And with them, I'll destroy your Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, and then I'll destroy you completely with my Harpie Lady! Go forth Harpie Lady Sisters, use your last Trio Tornado!" She yelled, laughing with all her might.

"At last…This duel is coming to an end!" Rex grinned, eager too see the result of Mai's turn.

Angel screamed.

Roy bit his lip.

Luke smirked.

Metaldix: OMG! Supah cliffie!

Neverclaw: Yeah right, even though we posted the next chapter already…

Metaldix: DO'H! Then I'll delete it!

Neverclaw: NO WAY! Anyways, happy past Valentine Day, Kimiru and Miriku, our only reviewer by now! Or was it Miriku and Kimiru…? Argh, you HAD to chose a complicated nick, hadn't you?

Metaldix: Heeeeey Neomage also posted!

Neverclaw: . Yeah, but it doesn't sound too nice to say happy valentine day from a man to a man…

Metaldix: 0.o Oh.

Neverclaw: Returning to the topic, keep tuned, readers! As our Valentine's guest, Mai Valentine, is about to win! Or…will she?


	14. Chapter 14

Neverlaw: And here we are, back for more, RAWR!

Metaldix: Our first two-chapters-update, yay:3

Neverclaw: Yeah yeah, now Disclaimer, do your job!

Disclaimer: Yessir! We do not own Yugioh! nor Rex Raptor nor Mai Valentine, oh, and happy past Valentine's day!

Chapter 14: Victory of the famous or Famous Victory? (part two)

"Trio tornado!" Mai yelled, as her Harpy Lady Sisters approached the Pbnoxious Celtic Guardian at a great speed.

"LUKE!" Angel screamed, while Roy bit his lip, and on the other side, Rex just was eager to wait Mai's victory.

Her harpies stabbed at the warrior, but Luke's monster…survived the onslaught!

"WHAT!" Rex' eyes widened.

"Too bad, my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian can't be destroyed by any monster with an ATK of 1900 or higher, so that means our monsters are intact. However, as my warrior has an ATK of 1900, it will be impossible to destroy it because of his effect!" Luke grinned from ear to ear, but then added, "I still get Battle Damage though…" His Life Points lowered to 1200.

"DUDE! Do NOT scare me like that never before!" Roy yelled madly, and was followed by Angel's agreement.

"Alright, I'll place this face-down card, pass my Harpie Lady to defense position and end my turn…" She growled. "To tell the truth, this boy is resulting to be much more stubborn than what I had thought,"

Luke couldn't help but chuckle: for him, that was a compliment.

Mai had her Life Points at a moderate 1550 with two cards in her hand which strangely haven't been seen by their user in the whole duel, while Luke had them at lower 1200 and three cards in his hand. Mai had her Harpie Lady in defense mode and Harpy Lady Sisters in attack mode on her field, and two cards face-down. Luke had only his Obnoxious Celtic Guardian in attack mode.

"It's my turn!" Luke said drawing a card. –_Well, it seems like all of her cards have something to do with those Harpie ladies monsters, so if I'm able to destroy them, maybe then I'll be able to break down her strategy…Not to mention that that psychic ability of hers to know where is a determined card without seeing it already gives me the creeps…_- Luke examined his hand and thought twice before making a move.

"I'll place a face-down card, and summon Gaia the Fierce Knight (2300ATK/2100DEF) in attack position!" His knight in blue armor appeared on the field, with his horse rearing up on two legs. His attack and defense rose to 2800 and 2600 respectively because of the field bonus.

"C'mon my knight, destroy those harpies! Lance Launch!" Luke ordered as his warrior advanced forward on his galloping mare, piercing through the sisters, and leaving Mai with 1200 life points.

–_Darn it, if my Celtic guardian was stronger, I would be able to destroy her Harpie Lady… But at least we're tied now!_ - "Okay, I'll pass my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian to defense mode, and place a face-down card, your turn."

"How you dare hurt a woman like that!" Mai scowled indignantly. "I'll show you not to mess with Mai Valentine!" She continued, drawing a card, and still not looking at it, but this, time, Angel spoke up.

"THAT'S IT! I know what's going on!" She said.

"Really? Strange, because up to now you've been sniffing all around, I doubt you know what's going on in the duel…" Roy replied. Another kick in the crotch.

"No, I didn't mean that! I know how she plays without looking at her own cards!" She exclaimed.

"HOW!" Roy demanded instantly, and everyone's ears went pink, except for Mai, who frowned deeply.

"Remember when I told you if you smelled that cologne in the air? It was the very same perfume my Granny uses, and now I know where it was used in…In Mai Valentine's cards!"

Complete silence, until Rex broke it. "…So?"

"Geez, guys, don't you understand? She must have used it in some cards, and in some others she used another type of cologne, and by smelling her cards, she could identify them because of the smell, and so she would also confuse her enemies, earning her an advantage!"

"Oh…So THAT'S how she plays!" Roy finally reacted.

"You cheater! Now I know how you won against me in that cruise…" Rex growled, demanding a rematch.

"If you haven't forgotten, it's still my turn," Mai smiled, but her cute face then turned into a frozen one. "And now you all have pissed me off, this 'Luke' just won't give up, that girl over there spoiled my secret, and Rex and the red-haired boy are just TOO IRRITATING!"

"HEY!" Both Roy and Rex yelled in unison.

"So, I'll finish this duel right now, and activate one of my trap cards, Icarus attack! By sacrificing a Winged-Type monster from my side of the field, I can destroy two cards, and I'll destroy your two monsters!"

And just when Harpie Lay was about to be used as a tribute, Luke activated a counter Trap card of his.

"Go, Trap Jammer! By discarding one card from my hand, it will negate and destroy your trap card!" He yelled, as Mai's trap was destroyed.

"ENOUGH!" Mai yelled, not containing herself. "I swore to myself that I would save this for Pegasus, but I think you leave no other choice, than to summon my all-powerful Harpie's Pet Dragon (2000ATK/2500DEF)!" She yelled furiously, as a MASSIVE dragon appeared on the field a moment later, flapping its huge wings and roaring with all its might, as its stats rose to an incredible 2800 and 3300!

"Oh…my…GOD!" Luke's legs wanted to run, but he was too busy looking at the majestic beast.

"Look at that…" Roy's eyes widened, and so did Angel's.

"What a beast…" Rex muttered.

"This is my strongest monster, and thanks to its effect, it's much more powerful! Normally, its stats are boosted by 300 attack and defense for each Harpie Lady on the field, but as my field is a mountain one, it also gives Dragon-Type monsters a boost of 500 attack and defense" Mai explained, still with the same expression.

"But that's not all, because I activate my trap card which I placed at the very start from this duel: Curse of Aging! By discarding one card from my hand, your monsters' ATK and DEF will be lowered by 500 for this turn!"

Luke's monsters then began to lose energy, wasting away. Even Gaia's helmet seemed to be heavy for him as his skin wrinkled, and his stats decreased to 2300 and 2100, and the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian's ATK and DEF also lowered to a miserable 1400 and 1200, while growing a white beard, but what Curse of Aging just did, was to merely take away from them their field bonus.

"No way…" Luke said, looking at his monsters, which felt there was too little air in the world.

"And finally, I'll change my Harpie lady to attack position, and since her attack is 1800, she'll be able to destroy your Obnoxious Celtic Guardian! Siren Screech once more!" Her monster flew up high and shrieked, crushing the guardian with a sonic boom.

"And with my Harpie's Pet Dragon, I'll destroy your good-for-nothing Gaia with Blaze Boom!" She yelled as her dragon burned Gaia the Fierce Knight into smoldering ashes.

Of all the damage received, Luke was left with a sad 350 Life Points, while Mai had more than the triple of his: 1200 Life Points, and two cards in her hand. Luke had no cards on his side of the field nor in his hand, although Mai had her Harpie's Pet Dragon and Harpie Lady in attack mode.

"No matter what I do…She'll counterattack my moves, any of them, and look what is left from me…No monsters…No cards…Nothing…Except some miserable 350 life points…" Luke said, as his eyes were overshadowed.

"Luke…" Angel whispered.

"It doesn't matter man…At least you fought like hell…" Roy tried to smile, but he knew it wouldn't help in the slightest if he did so.

"Still…" Luke muttered.

"Still…?" Rex repeated with an eyebrow raised.

"Still…I WON'T give UP!" Luke yelled, as his eyes were then showed, and it could be clearly seen how fire ran through them.

"Woah…What determination…" Mai couldn't help to say, looking with awe at her opponent.

"And even if what only is left is my weakest monster, I'll fight back with it!" He continued.

"That's the spirit!" Angel exclaimed, and this time, Roy smiled, knowing it would help now.

Even though what Luke had just said, Rex wasn't completely moved. "But don't you get it, you HAVE _NOTHING_!"

Luke ignored him, now drawing a card with a smile. "Is that so? Well then, let my deck decide my future! I now use Pot of Greed, a card which will let me draw two cards!" The familiar pot appeared on the field, sucking two cards from Luke's deck, and giving them to him.

"Heh…" He smiled.

"C'mon, we all know you didn't get something good! So just end your--!"

"SHUT UP, Rex." Mai interrupted him. "I want to see if his determination to win this duel is powerful enough."

"M-mai…" Rex whispered, surprised of her.

"I will now use Monster Reborn, to Special summon a fallen monster, and I will revive from my Graveyard the monster I discarded when using Trap Jammer, Dark Blade (1800ATK/1500DEF)!" He yelled, as his loyal warrior appeared on the field, swinging his twin swords in a show-off as his stats were risen to 2300 and 2000 respectively.

"And now…I'll summon a brand new card I just received from a friend…Pitch-Dark Dragon (900ATK/600DEF)!" An obscure looking dragon was materialized on the field, as it roared with all it could.

"Was…that all?" Mai blinked, astonished.

"Guess he really meant about that part of fighting with his weakest monster…" Roy sweat dropped.

"Wait a sec…He said it was a new card he received from a friend…Could it be…?" Angle said aloud, thinking deeply.

"But this dragon of mine has a curious effect…as it can fuse with my Dark Blade whenever I order so, just by removing them both from the field, without the need of the Polymerization card…" He smirked.

"It's…An Union Monster…!" Roy yelled, while his ears couldn't believe themselves.

"That Pitch-Black Dragon and its fusion must be the two cards Crusher gave him!" Angel read Roy's mind.

"That's right!" Luke nodded. "And so…I'll fuse them, to form my ultimate Dark Blade, the Dragon Knight (2200ATK/1500DEF"!" Luke yelled, and his Dark Blade then mounted on the Pitch-Black Dragon, and both of them instantly received an unexpected force!

"So what? You should have left your Dark Blade as it was, because it had a higher attack than that fusion!" Rex snapped.

"I don't think so, as my Dragon Knight is a _warrior-type_ monster, and what happens if it's a warrior, huh?" He asked the crowd, and his monster's attack and defense points increased to an astounding 2700 attack and 2000 defense points.

"COOL!" Both Angel and Roy yelled.

"I-it isn't enough, as my Harpie's Pet Dragon is still stronger with its 2800 attack points!" Mai screamed.

"Oh yeah? Well, I though you said its attack was boosted by every Harpie Lady on the field…" Luke eyes smiled.

"CRAP!" Mai slammed her fists against the dueling grid.

"Wow, I've never seen her before THAT mad," Rex Raptor noticed. "That kid sure provoked her this time…" He added to himself.

"Go Dark Blade the Dragon Knight, attack Mai's Harpie Lady with your Dragon Knight Buster!" Luke yelled once again, as his monster slashed in million pieces the Harpie Lady, and reducing Mai's life points to 300.

"But that's not all; as my Dark Blade's special ability lets me remove three monsters cards from your Graveyard once he inflicts Battle Damage to you! Go Dark Blade, the Dragon Knight, and used your Banisher Buster!" Luke's monster's sword glowed with a mysterious light, and immediately two ghostly images of the Hapie Lady Sisters and one of the Hapie Lady appeared on the field, but disappeared in a blink of an eye.

"And now that I destroyed your Harpie Lady, your Harpie's Pet Dragon's attack and defense will decrease!" He smiled, and as it was told, Harpie's Pet Dragon's stats were reduced to 2500 and 3000.

"Now, your Harpie Lady, next time, your dragon." Luke threatened a paralyzed Mai.

"How could he…? He totally flipped the duel upside down with just faith…" Mai spoke showing no expression. "B-but at least my Harpie's Pet Dragon's defense is way higher than your monster…" She tried to smile but couldn't, passing her monster to defense mode.

"Heh…" Angel chuckled, but Roy instead laughed.

"What's so funny!" Rex inquired with a policeman attitude.

"It seems you don't know our friend Luke…" Angel chuckled again.

"Once he enters the state in which he is now, _no_ one can beat him," Roy continued.

"B-but Mai's dragon has a higher defense than Luke's monster!" Rex stammered, and Angel and Roy exchanged looks.

"If you don't believe us, just watch what will now happen…"

Metaldix: Mwahahahahaha! This duel is not over yet, HA!

Neverclaw: Yeah, but we all know who's gonna win….Mai!

Metaldix: WHAT! YOU WISH!!!

Neverclaw: OH RLY?

Metaldix: YA RLY!

Neverclaw: OK, THEN, READERS, REVIEW AND READ THE UPCOMING CHAPTER TO FIND OUT!

Metaldix: OH YAH!

16/02/07: Checked once again the two parts were the stats were shown: Forgot to say there were to cards face-down, as I forgot about Icarus Attack, and in the second part forgot to say how many cards Mai had.


	15. Chapter 15

Metaldix: ZOOOOOMG! Luke and Mai's duel keeps on, who will win?

Neverclaw: Mai will, of course, wanna bet?

Metaldix: Umm, no…What would happen if I lose, eh?

Neverclaw: Geez, such a coward…I KNOW! Disclaimer, I bet you Mai will win, and if I'm wrong, I'll do the disclaimer role next chapter…But if I win, you'll have to do it for the rest of your life, MWAH!

Disclaimer: Uhh ok, anyways, I do the disclaimer role always, so there's nothing to lose…Onto other matters, those two guys do not own Yugioh, nor any of its original characters.

Chapter 15: Conclusion and Another Unexpected Meeting

"Once he enters…the state he is in…?" Rex Raptor repeated the exact same words Roy had just said.

"Yup, just see it with your own eyes," The red-haired boy nodded, and besides her was Angel, the two of them watching the duel between Luke and Mai Valentine.

-_It doesn't matter who, whether if it was a cheater, like Zparks, an imitation duelist like Kari, or an intimidating person like Crusher... He always pulled something up his sleeve…And now, he is now showing us the same thing with a famous and skilled player, Mai…- _Angel thought, as her face slowly turned into a smile.

–_C'mon, Luke! Show her you can accomplish your dreams!-_

High above, the duels stats were grinding to an end: Luke had nothing in his hands, miserable 350 life points, but Dark Blade the Dragon Knight in attack mode. It had 2700 ATK points and 2000 DEF points, thanks to the field bonus. Mai, on the other hand, even though she had two cards in her hand, she had even lower life points than Luke, 300. Plus, her Harpie's Pet Dragon in defense mode was undefeatable as of now with 2500 ATK and 3000 DEF thanks to the mountains on Mai's field. It was now Luke's turn.

"Sheesh, you went all cocky just because you destroyed my Harpie Lady. But don't you realize that if I draw even _one_ monster that includes 'Harpie Lady' in its name I will win?" Mai inquired to her opponent.

Luke didn't move one muscle. "Yes, you're right, if you draw one of them, you'll summon it and win thanks to your Harpie Dragon's effect... But you're forgetting one thing!"

Mai raised an eyebrow in response.

"It is MY turn!" Luke said, swiftly drawing a card, and looking at it. Luke's eyes narrowed.

"…Soooo?" Roy raised his neck to his limit, eager to wait for Luke's next move.

"Sooooo, the answer is…A damn yes, man!" Luke grinned brightly.

Mai couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You're kidding, right?"

"Nope, and I'll show it to you, by summoning this warrior, Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke (1800ATK/1000DEF)!"

A blue-skinned warrior immediately materialized on the field, with a dagger in each hand, sporting a green kimono.

"Umm…Am I the only one who thinks that monster is creepy?" Rex looked at the others, who ignored him completely.

Meanwhile, Mai still didn't quite get the point. "So, will that cause my defeat?"

"Uh-huh, so go, Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke, attack Harpie's Pet Dragon!" Luke ordered, as his monster dashed forward with his daggers anxious for blood.

"WHAAAAAAAAT!" Roy yelled out loud. "You reached THIS far just to attack a high level monster and lose?"

"You know how I call that? I call that _insanity_!" Rex laughed maniacally.

"Shut up, shorty-boy! I'm impressed how you can reach the toilet with those legs!" Angel snapped at Rex, whose volume turned off immediately, as if his plug had just disconnected.

Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke was now inches in front of the Harpie's Pet Dragon, and suddenly jumped, reaching and climbing the dragon's long neck, and tearing apart with his small but sharp blades.

"No way! I demand an explanation!" Mai cried, as her precious dragon fell in front of her and disappeared.

"You see, my Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke can destroy any face-up defense position monster on your side of the field without applying damage calculation," Luke explained with a smug look.

"And that's not all!" Roy exclaimed, knowing what was about to come.

Luke nodded. "Excactly, there's still one monster left on my side of the field to attack with! Go, Dark Blade the Dragon Knight! Use your Dragon Knight Buster once again!" ç

And his monster flew once again, slashing Mai, and reducing her life points to 0.

"Ugh…" Mai put a hand on her face, feeling a strong headache starting to spread like fire in a grassland.

"That was great, dude!" Roy jumped in a frenzy, as his friend descended from the arena.

"Don't say that…" Luke laughed nervously, and received a thight embrace of Angel.

"I thought you were a goner back there…" Angel said.

Luke then unwrapped himself from Angel, his arms over her shoulders.

"You did? Then you don't know me as well as I thought!"

"Oy, over here!" Exclaimed a voice and Luke then turned to catch two flying star chips coming his way from Mai Valentine.

"Oh, I had forgot about these with what happened up there…" Luke admitted, adding them to his duelist glove, which now counted six of those shiny items.

"Nice duel back there, I'll be waiting for you in the upcoming rounds," Mai said, turning her back to them, and walking away.

"R-right!" Luke said with a surprised look on his face. "Woah…I can't believe I defeated _the_ Mai Valentine!" Luke grinned, letting himself fall to the grass mattress, with arms extended.

"Anyway, don't feel on the top of the world, as you only have six stars, which is only a bit more than half of what you need! You have a looong way to go!" Angel replied, looking down at him, literally.

"Yup, and the same goes for Roy!" Luke's grin didn't banish at all, as he knew he had hit the bull's eye.

"Heeeeey, you didn't have to add me in your list, I was starting to feel like it was easy!" Roy snapped, arms crossed.

And they remained there, as a breeze ran past them...And as they laughed at Rex's useless attempts to duel Mai in the horizon, all his efforts for nothing.

"Sheesh, why _are_ they taking so long?" Margaret Blake tapped her foot impatiently against the solid ground of the Domino City port.

"We had arranged we would meet where Luke and his friends took off…" She yet again spoke aloud, until she saw how a brand-new-looking silver car parked nearby in the port's parking.

Coming out from it, stood a medium-height woman, and a shiny dark hair all over her back, now holding her husband by the arm; a person who had clearly an outstanding weight, hair overwhelmed by grey hair, and a broad smile.

Beside them, a charcoal-haired man was approaching Margaret, with his blue eyes fixed on hers. "Hey, it's been so long since I last saw you, Margaret!"

"Why were you _so_ late? I've been here like since an hour ago!" Margaret demanded answers.

"It's all Harry's fault, don't blame us!" Sally Barker said in a grumpy mood. "Edward and I were coming here directly until he got a phonecall…"

The chubby man then continued the story. "Don't blame him, love! He told us his car was in the garage because of its multiple malfunctions, so we _had_ to pick him up!" He said in a dramatic way, and Harry Bright then hugged Mr. Barker.

"You're SO merciful, Ed! HOW am I gonna repay you such a favor?" He asked.

"Do not worry my friend, I just merely did what my heart asked me to!" Sally's husband replied in a heroic way, and both men broke finally to tears.

"Would you just shut up, and get to business?" Ms. Blake covered her face with her hand, as a huge sweat drop appeared behind her.

"Ah, cheer up, Margaret! Besides, they aren't in _real _danger after all, are they?" Mr. Bright said with a welcoming smile.

"That's right! Why don't we just take this opportunity and talk about this over ice cream and whisky?" Mr. Barker suggested, copying his his friend's grin.

"Sheesh…I _knew_ I had to leave you in the house, taking everything so lightly…" Mrs. Barker sighed.

"ANYWAYS!" Margaret cleared her throat. "Our children went off a day ago, and we don't know _where_ this island is, or _when_ they'll be back!"

Mr. Bright then put his hands on Mrs. Blake's shoulders. "Relax, Margaret, our kids are fine. Angel told me about it before, it's called Duel Monsters. A trading card game. The tournament lasts three days, and it consists in---"

"—THREE DAYS?!" Both mothers said with one yell. "That means _we_ will have to wait for those children until they come back?"

"Umm…Yeah?"

"Oh, NO we WON'T!" Sally Barker replied. "They've been by now one day off and there's still two days left!"

"You know what can possibly happen to them? HUH?" Mrs. Blake continued.

"Geez, Sally, Margaret, calm down! This event is strictly under vigilance, there are security cameras all over the island, and if _anything_ happens to them EVERYONE will know!" Mr. Bright said, trying to appease the fierce beasts.

"Besides, my little Roy will maybe meet new friends, or even bring a hot chick as his girlfriend!" Mr. Barker said, imaging how he would be a grandfather with many grandchildren.

"Ed, don't say that, you pervert! Roy would _never_ bring someone like that to our house, even if his life depended on it!" His wife replied.

"Hmph, you're right…" Edward sighed with disappointment.

-_Is this the faith Roy's parents have for him?- _A sweat drop appeared on Mr. Bright's head.

"Okaaaay, so, Harry, you're proposing to wait until our children come back tomorrow?" Margaret changed topic.

"Well yeah, there's nothing we can actually do, the cruiser will be here tomorrow at midnight," Harry Bright explained.

"Now, I have a question, how do YOU know so much about this thing?" Mrs. Barker asked with eyebrows raised.

"Well, Angel told me everything before she left, and gave me this Duelist Kingdom guide book," He replied with a innocent smile.

"AND YOU DIDN'T TELL US ANYTHING ABOUT IT?!" Once again, the two mothers yelled in unison, but now spitting fire at him.

"Weeeell, you never asked, did you?" Mr. Barker jumped in, defending Angel's father, but was wiped out by her wife.

"Do NOT interfere, Ed!" She threatened him, her teeth clenched, and then turned to Mr. Bright, who was already frightened by Mrs. Blake's face.

"Ladies, ladies, do not get overexcited! I'm sure we can discuss this with some biscuits and--AHHHHHH!" He yelled as the Mrs. attacked him with some clubs taken from the nowhere.

Edward Barker, meanwhile, watched them helplessly, and knew he was doing the right thing.

–_Heh, hope you can save yourself, Harry…_- He thought with a grin, but his face instantly turned to a serious one, as he touched his white mustache.

–_Roy…Come back here in one piece, dammit, we're worrying about you like hell here…_-

Neverclaw: O.o They are grown ups, man! I think they're a bit too old to kick each other's butt!

Metaldix: Ohh, I don't think so! grins evily

Neverclaw: Oh well, doesn't matter….AS LUKE WON AGAINST MAI VALENTINE!

Metaldix: D Yup, but still, our two duelists are hungry for more star chips, and they won't stop till they reach ten!

Neverclaw: Until next time, folks! And don't forget to review!


	16. Chapter 16

Metaldix: Alright, here we are, ready to upload the next chapter, the number sixteen!

Disclaimer: Oh yeah!

Metaldix: O.o WHERE'S NEVERCLAWA AND WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?

Dislcaimer: Hehehe…Onto the 'disclaimer'….

Neverclaw: Darn you, Disclaimer…!

Disclaimer: DO YOUR JOB!

Metaldix: Umm…Dude? What IS happening here?

Neverclaw: Nothing important…..Yugioh! and its original characters aren't owned by us…

Chapter 16: A Torrentially Troublesome Case

"Maaan, I just can't find anyone who wants to duel!" Roy groaned aloud, as he walked with his friends Luke and Roy besides him, who weren't by some reason in the mood in the middle of the afternoon.

"Well, maybe we would have encountered someone if we had stayed in the grasslands where everyone is at…" Angel sighed, looking at the ground with a disappointed look…As they walked through the cliffs of Duelist Island, where the sea crushed against the rock like rugby players.

"Y-you're right! Then who the hell proposed to go _here_?" Roy demanded, looking suspiciously at his friends.

"You idiot, it was YOU!" Luke yelled desperately. "And I'm dying of hunger in a place like this! Angel, what happened to the food you brought here?"

"We finished it last night…" She sighed yet again.

"Heeey, it doesn't matter, maybe we can fish something!" Roy suggested, but was strangled in response by Luke.

"Yeah right, and fall this fifty-foot cliff to find some food, while avoiding being crashed by the waves which collide with the rocks, and luckily climbing here with a miraculous force, that is!"

Luke was about to strangle his friend and find an excuse for the cannibalism when his nose called his attention. Angel felt it too, and knew what it smelled of.

"FOOD!" Luke and Angel jumped with happiness, as they rushed where their noses were pointing at, dragging Roy by the way.

Immediately they found a small bonfire, with a pair of logs to sit down around it, and some fresh fish which gave a smell like paradise nearby the fire, ready to be eaten by hungry people.

"At last…Food…" Luke talked, and felt as he hadn't spoken in years so much that his voice could hardly afford the job.

The three teenagers made themselves as comfortable as possible on the logs, eating fish as fast as they could.

"GOTCHA!" A sudden voice yelled, which made everyone jump with surprise.

"HOLY--! What the hell was that!" Roy exclaimed turning to some bushes from the forest side.

"Surprised you, didn't I?" A girl in her twenties smirked, swinging her turquoise hair as she approached the group.

"Nor dho ad MOO?" Luke pointed at her, with half fish still hanging from his mouth. Removing it, he repeated what he had just said. "Now who are YOU?"

"Heh, you think those fishes magically popped in the air and toasted with the bonfire? That's what is called a _trap_, boy," She said.

"So th—WE'RE SORRY!" Angel apologized, falling to her knees in a blink of an eye.

"Wha…? NO, little girl, I cooked them for duelists to arrive here, and I did it! But gee, I wasn't expecting such young children like you…" The girl closed her deep blue eyes and exhaled.

"Were you expecting someone I special?" Luke raised an eyebrow.

"Actually, yes. I was expecting the great Mako Tsunami, he's the greatest man of all!" She said, now her face turning to a much brighter one.

"Mako…Tsunami?" Angel repeated, feeling how that name sounded familiar.

"You know, the famous water-type duelist! And I came here from Uruguay looking for him; I even copied his cook-and-wait technique, I'm her greatest fan Marina Steamer!"

A sweat drop could be seen on the three other's heads. –_Cook………And wait?-_

"Heh, then I could say we're somehow alike!" Luke stood up. "I mean, I also consider myself a fan of Yugi Muto."

Marina blinked. "Oh really? That brat who beat Seto Kaiba, huh? Well, you DO have a duelist glove, you up to a duel?"

"Of course!" Roy suddenly exclaimed, and Luke then cleared his throat, trying to attract the attention of a certain someone.

"Dude, she was talking to ME!" Luke interrupted.

"Sheesh, is this going to happen every time a duelist asks for them to duel?" Angel sighed, and leaving her half eaten toasted fish on the trunk, wrapped her fingers around Luke's and Roy's ears, pulling them with such force that it would be impossible not to pay attention to the torturer.

"Now listen me BOTH of you!" She whispered, releasing her two deadly stranglers, and with one of them taking a coin from her pocket. "Just flip this coin and whoever wins gets to duel her, got it?"

Marin, confused by what was going on, decided just to remain in her position, watching how the three of them discussed in hushes.

"ALRIGHT!" Roy abruptly yelled. "Marina, I'll be the one who beats you!"

"Argh, I should have chosen heads…" Luke closed his eyes in a disappointed way.

"Whoa, whoa…Sory to tell you this, but I didn't challenge you!" Marina said, trying to find the most modest words to use.

"Well, let's say it's his turn to duel…" Angel laughed nervously, containing Luke from spoiling his friend's match.

"Okaaaay, just follow me, I know of a dueling arena nearby," Marina said, and the three followed the green tank top and blue jean skirt girl.

They soon arrived at the mentioned arena just by walking in a straight forward way, and they noticed how a side of the field was eventually a body of blue mass, while the other was a plain rock side.

"I guess this will be a normal duel wagering two star chips, am I right?" Marina asked, rising in the sea's side.

"Uh-huh," Roy nodded, rising in the rock side of the field.

"Well, I guess she must be using a water based deck after all," Luke smirked.

"Huh? Why are you saying that?" Angel inquired, curious as ever.

"Gee, it's TOO obvious!" Luke looked at her surprised. "Being a fan of the famous water user Mako Tsunami, climbing to the sea part of the arena, umm…Having blue eyes!"

"…Blue eyes? Does that even matter?"

"Shut up."

"Okay, it's flip the coin time!" Roy said, and the shining hologram coin appeared on the field. "I had luck earlier calling it heads, so I'll choose once again heads!"

The silver object then was flipped to the air, falling flat on the floor, showing only one side…Heads.

"Oh well, you go first, lucky guy," Marina smiled weakly.

"That I will!" Roy said, swiftly drawing his sixth card. "Well, what do we have here…Hmph, guess, I'll have to accept this until I get something better…I'll set one monster face-down and one card face-down," Roy said, as two mysterious cards on his side of the field appeared.

"Okay, my turn!" Marina said, now drawing a card. "And guess what? I'll start attacking right now! I summon my Great White (1600ATK/800DEF) in attack mode!" A giant white shark rose from Marina's sea, showing its razor-sharp teeth to Roy, while its status rose to 2100 and 1300 respectively.

"As you may already know, my side of the field gives a bonus to all Fish, Sea Serpent, Thunder and Aqua-Type monster of 500 attack and 500 defense points," She explained.

"WHAT? Thunder-type monsters too? Aww, man! Once again, I failed in the field selection!" Roy scolded himself.

"And now, I'll attack with my Great White your face-down monster!" She said, as her shark dived into the water, and swam towars the hidden monster of Roy's with a visible dorsal fin floating above, until it jumped out of the water once the sea field reached its limited, and annihilated the opposing monster which resulted to be a Tripwire Beast (1200ATK/1300DEF).

"Well, that was easy," Marina smirked. "Your turn."

"Grr…Fine, I'll do better than that if you ask me to," Roy returned the smirk looking at the card he had just drawn. "As I will now summon my Thunder Nyan Nyan (1900ATK/800DEF)!" A young woman wearing some tiger fur wearings then appeared on the field, smiling like a cat.

"And then, I'll equip her with the Electro-whip, a tool which will increase my Thunder-type monster's attack and defense by 300!" He continued, and Thunder Nyan Nyan took the whip, feeling a new force increase her attack and defense points to 2200 and 1100.

"Alright, his monster is now capable to defeat Marina's Great White!" Angel exclaimed, and received a nod from Luke.

"That's right! Thuder Nyan Nyan, destroy Great White now!" Roy said, and his monster simply put the whip on the water, and created electronic waves which reached Great White's body, destroying it completely!

"Cool, I dare say that monster received the shock of its life…Literally," Luke chuckled.

"Hmph, not bad, but if you think you're going to win just like that, then you're completely wrong!" Marina said with a frown face.

"Say, Marina," Roy commented. "You told us you came from Uruguay, that's South America, how come you can speak so well our language?"

"Hehe, did I ever say I was born there?" The blue-haired girl laughed between teeth.

"Huh?"

"See, I was born in Domino city, and after finishing university, I went to Uruguay to continue my water sports job," She said.

"Is that so?" Luke asked. "Well, we also come from that town!"

"Really? Then you MUST have met my little brother, Tamma Steamer!" She said with a cute little smile.

"Tamma…?" Everyone frowned, and started recalling every people's faces they knew about.

"Why does that name somehow ring the bell…?" Angel said, eyes closed.

"Tamma…" Roy repeated, and then it suddenly crushed on him like a car traveling at jet speed and crushing against the mightiest of walls.

"TAMMA!?" Luke yelled, remembering how the very first duel involving Duelist Kingdom started.

"Oh, so you know him?" Marina said with a clear question mark over her head.

"Umm…Well, yeah, a bit…" Luke muttered.

"A bit? Luke, you entered his house wagering the whole Duelist Kingdom stuff, won against him in a—" Angel would have continued, is she wasn't shut up by Luke's palm.

Luke then whispered in her ear. "Yeah, how I beat him in a duel, not giving him the opportunity to participate in this tournament which by the way his sister is in! Angel, do NOT reveal to her the truth!" And with that said, he removed his hand from her mouth.

"Tee hee, I mean, yeah, we know him! We met him in the market one day!" Angel reformulated her comment.

"The market? But usually Grandpa is the one who goes to the—"

"ANYWAYSH, IT'S YOUR TURN, MOVE!" Roy snapped, both wanting to save his friends from the truth……...And wanting the duel to continue.

"Umm, as you say…" Marina said nervously. "Well, returning to this, I will now summon my Kaiser Sea Horse (1700ATK/1650DEF) in attack mode!" A bulky monster appeared on her side of the field, wearing a seemingly tough armor and a curved scythe as a weapon, and its stats rose to 2200 attack and 2150 defense points.

"Man, that bonus sure changes everything!" Angel said with a worried face.

"Yeah, just look at this situation, she can just summon a monster, and the bonus will help her to get rid of Roy's monsters," Luke nodded.

"And thanks to that, my Kaiser Sea Horse will now destroy your Thunder Nyan Nyan!" The girl smirked, and her Sea-serpent monster stabbed its weapon against Thunder Nyan Nyan's belly, cutting her in two pieces, and with the explosion affecting Roy's life points.

"Ouchies…" Roy rubbed a hand through his head, as his life points decreased to 1900. "Alright, huess it's my turn now!" –_Well, looking at the odds, she had the advantage because of her field, but if I get to summon a strong monster, it will be difficult even for her to destroy it…-_

"Okay, I will now summon a face-down monster and a face-down card, ending my turn," Roy firmly said.

"What, are your options running out THIS soon?" Marina raised an eyebrow, with a funny look on her face.

"Shut up…"

Now, according to the status of the match, both players were somewhat equal: Roy had 1900 life points and three cards in his hand, and Marina has the same 1900 life points but six cards in her hand. On the field, Marina simply had a face-up Kaiser Sea Horse in attack mode, while Roy had face-down monster and a face-down card.

"Well, I'll summon my Seven Colored Fish (1800ATK/800DEF) in attack mode," Marina said and a rainbow colored fish was brought to surface, stats growing to 2200 and 1300 both. "And then, I'll attack your face-down monster with my Kaiser Sea Horse!"

The monster once agin prepared to attack, but this time, it refused to do so!

"W-what? Hey, why won't you attack the monster!" The woman started barking orders.

"Hey hey, don't blame it; I was my trap card after all, A Feint Plan, which won't let you attack for this turn a face-down monster, and right now, it is my only defense," Roy made an impious grin.

"Phew…If he hadn't activated that, he would be a goner…" Angel sighed in relief.

"Amen to that," Luke nodded.

Roy the drew, looking at the received card. –_Hey, would you look at this…! No, wait, if I want to use its full power, then I'll have to wait…And I just got the cards to do so!_-

"Alright, it's my turn, and I'll be setting another face-down monster and another face-down card!" He said determined, and another dark silhouette appeared besides Roy's previous face-down monster.

Luke raised a well deserved eyebrow. –_Is this the Roy I know…? He would have already attacked with something…A plan he has, maybe?_-

"I'm telling you, if you keep doing those Set summon, then you won't win just by defending!" Marina said, and wished a chalkboard was right there, to explain her amateur opponent the basis of attacking.

"Make your move then," Roy replied.

"That I will! First, I'll set a card face-down, and summon yet another monster, my Amphibian Beast (2400ATK/2000DEF)!" An uhh…AMPHIBIAN BEAST then rose to the field from the deep blue waters, with its stats now boosting to 2900 attack and 2500 defense.

"Holy…! That uhh…AMPHIBIAN BEAST's power is disgustingly strong!" Luke yelled.

"I don't like this…" Angel gulped, looking at the uhh…AMPHIBIAN—ok, I'll cut it.

"Now, Kaiser Sea Horse, resume your attack which was stopped last turn, and attack the face-down monster of my left!" And once again, Kaiser Sea Horse attacked the monster in the west direction, but suddenly entered into a just summoned portal, and reappeared right in front Marina, where all started!

"Geez…What now?" Marina sighed.

"That was my Negate Attack trap, which uhh…NEGATES YOUR ATTACK and ends your Battle Phase," Roy said, with another impious grin.

"AGH! SO BORING!" Angel said frustrated, not knowing it was the first time she complained about a duel's lack of action.

"Do not hurry yourself," Luke said. "After all, this isn't just an 'attacking' game, even if you not attack, you can win a duel."

"Huh? But…How?" Angel raised an eyebrow.

"Watch and see. Roy is surely trying to accomplish that mission."

"Well, my turn!" Roy said, drawing a card. "Okay…I'll summon a face-down monster and end my turn…" Roy gulped.

"HA, GOTCHA!" Marina said, recovering her lost spirit. "I now summon my Terrorking Salmon (2400ATK/1000DEF)!" A HUGE fish then jumped out of the field, as if it was competing in the Olympics, and its stats rose to 2900 attack and 1500 defense.

"Uhh, what's with the 'gotcha'? She just summoned a monster…" Angel said worriedly.

"Actually, she's right: just look at the number of monsters, Roy has three, and Marina has four, each one of them with a power capable to eliminate Roy's life points…" Luke muttered.

"HUH? Roy…!"

"Okay, now's the time to show you what I've been tried to tell you!" Marina laughed. "I'll destroy every of your monsters now, and finish your life points! Kaiser Sea Horse, destroy the far left monster of his!"

"Why do you say 'I'll destroy every of your monsters'?" Roy asked, while the Kaiser Sea Horse destroyed a face-down Batteryman AA (0ATK/0DEF).

"Weeeeell, because you now have two monsters, and I have three, DUH! Seven Colored Fish, destroy the far right monster of him!" Marina replied, sending her multi colored fish to battle.

"So what? Just because of numbers, it doesn't mean you'll definitely annihilate them," Roy countered, as another Batteryman AA (0ATK/0DEF) vanished from the field, leaving only one monster.

"Yeah right, good joke. My two monsters left have 2900 attack points, what can possibly defend against them? C'mon, Terrorking Salmon, Darkness Wave!" The Terrorking Salmon then began making a metallic like noise, and all of a sudden, a wave of an unexpected dark force rose, making its way towards Roy's monster.

"Oh yeah? Four words. I don't think so," Roy answered back.

-_Could it be…?_- Luke's eyes widened.

"ROY, WATCH OUT!" Angel yelled.

"COUNTERATTACK, CREATOR (2300ATK/3000DEF)!" And with those words said, a familiar titan emerged from Roy's face-down card…

Neverclaw: OMG! Tha Creator makes its debut, first time it is used in defense mode!

Metaldix: HELL YEAH!

Neverclaw: So, leaving you in this cliffie, we'll say goodbye!

Metaldix: But before that, I must announce that the writer may possibly be a BIT stuck between school assignments, so please don't worry if you see no updates are in next week…

Neverclaw: WHAT? A WHOLE WEEK, YOU LAZY PIECE OF –censored-!

Metaldix: Bear with me guys, and in the meantime, REVIEW!


	17. Chapter 17

Metaldix: Chapter seventeen, ready for lift-off!

Neverclaw: Yup, and now that I'm back in my original position, I'll be glad to thank YuGiOhManiac for pointing out some errors, which I err….Missed…But not to worry, I'll be off to fix'em!

Metaldix: Yeah, like The Creator's first scene in defense position wasn't in chapter sixteen, but in the very first duel he had….D'OH!

Neverclaw: grabs a whip and uses it with the Disclaimer Now, off to your work!

Disclaimer: I do not ARG- WOULD YOU CUT IT OUT? Anyways, these guys don't own Yugioh nor its original characters…grabs machine gun Neverclaw, COME BACK HERE!

Chapter 17: Torrentially Troublesome Case (Part Two)

"COUNTERATTACK, CREATOR (2300ATK/3000DEF)!" And with those words said, a familiar titan emerged from Roy's face-down card…Stopping the Darkness Wave with thunder fallen from the sky!

"WHOA!" Angel gasped, amazed at the sudden change of weather.

"Hehe, knew you would do it, mate!" Luke exclaimed.

It was then how a thunder slightly affected Marina, now reducing her life points to 1800.

"You were so lucky, Roy!" Marina bared her teeth, just like a fearsome dog would. "Well, I admit you got me there, but this duel is far from over, and now it's your turn."

The score had somewhat changed now. Roy was winning with an almost untouched 1900 life points, and held two cards in his hand, and Marina had 1800 life points, and four cards in her hand. On the field, even though Marina had an army of Water monster in attack mode like Kaiser Sea Horse, Seven Colored Fish, Amphibian Beast and Terrorking Salmon and a face-down card, Roy had a stronger defense on his side, The Creator.

"Welllllllll, I sincerely don't think this duel will come to an end later, I think I'm gonna win NOW!" Roy said, swiftly drawing a card. "You see, I've been waiting to use this card, waiting for you to have more monsters on the field, and I think now's the time to use this! I activate, Lightning Vortex!"

The earth started trembling. Clouds had gathered once again…

"What the…?" Angel gulped, now being more afraid than before, until…

ZAP!

A thunder fell from the sky, obliterating Marina's Amphibian Beast!

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" Marina yelled, desperate, looking how her monster was destroyed without a reason whatsoever.

ZAP! Another lighting struck as Terrorking Salmon disappeared, electro-shocked. It happened again with Kaiser Sea Horse, and Seven Colored Fish, until Marina's monsters were gone.

"Sorry for the sudden shock," Roy apologized with a smirk. "This card lets me destroy every of your monsters by the cost of discarding one card."

"Alright, good job, Roy!" Angel said from below.

"Hmph, trying to act so cool just because he played a single card!" Luke muttered with a grumpy face, turning away. "Sniff…I knew I should have stolen some of his cards before giving him that deck…"

"Aww, c'mon, you also do sometimes cool things," Angel turned, trying to cheer him up.

"…Really?" Luke showed her a teary face.

"No. Just pure luck." Angel countered with a face as heavy as stone, watching how her friend returned to the depression state. "Uh-oh, you didn't take that seriously, did you?"

"No way…My monsters…Defeated just like that?" Marina breathed an air of surprise, and a sweat drop now ran across her face.

"Uh-huh, and now, I'll change my Creator to attack position, and attack! Divine Shock Erradication!" The Creator now changed to an attacking pose, and summoning once again its mighty bolts of the sky, it let them fall upon her in a blink of an eye, but, to everyone's surprise, Marina was still standing on the field, life points untouched!

"Hey! I should have finished you!" Roy protested, checking his dueling grid for technical errors.

"That's because I activated my trap card, Waboku, which reduced the Battle damage taken to 0, and everything in the nick of time!" She said, making now a little smile.

"Argh, so close!" Roy flinched.

"Sheesh, I still can't believe SHE'S the sister of Tamma…A water-type user…" Angel whispered into Luke's ear.

"Don't speak about that now I told you, she wouldn't like it a bit to know how we cancelled the chance for him to enter this tournament…" Luke replied hushed.

"Well, my turn!" Marina said, drawing a card, and now, she started chuckling, until she broke to a laugh!

"Ho ho ho, what is so funny? My hair? I KNEW it!" Roy replied furiously, grabbing a mirror from the nowhere, and revising his hair is in its crazy yet ironically normal form.

"No, it's just that now got the card I needed to defeat YOU! This little combo is an invincible one which even the great Mako Tsunami uses!" Tamma's sister laughed out loud.

"W-what…?" Roy gasped.

"That's right, an _invincible_ combo! But first of all, I'll play the card Umi, a field card which will increase my Fish, Sea-serpent, Aqua and Thunder-Type monster attack and defense points by 200!" She said, and her water level now grew even more, until it now started occupying Roy's side of the field!

"Is that even possible? I mean, those two already have a field bonus…" Angel said.

"Correct, but that bonus is only an addition Maximillian Pegasus did, it doesn't prevent from players to play their own field cards, and as you may know, these field cards occupy the _whole_ field…" Luke commented.

"Then that means…!" Angel's head clicked like a light bulb.

"ALRIGHT!" Roy thanked, as he saw how his Creator's status were increased to 2500 and 3200 respectively. "Finally, I can see one of these bonuses on MY side of the field!"

"Well, be joyful while you can, because it won't do you any good!" Marina chuckled.

"Huh? But Roy's monsters are stronger now!" Angel said.

"Well yeah, but if we see this seriously, we can see how Marina's monsters will ALWAYS receive a bonus, as they all have to do with Umi, and Roy also has monsters with an affected attribute, so they'll just be playing with more attack and defense points technically…" Luke explained. "Unless, she played that card in order to use another one, after all, she said this was a combo…"

"And then, I'll set a face-down card, and then summon one of the strongest monsters I possess, I summon you, my mighty Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness (2100ATK/1200DEF)!" And when its name was spoken, from the seemingly tiny field of water emerged a MASSIVE orca, with what seemed to be a full attack force fleet installed on it, and then its stats were boosted to 2800 attack and 1900 defense points.

"Now THAT'S a boost!" Roy gasped looking at the behemoth of a monster.

"Ohh you haven't seen anything yet, but you WILL, that is, if you _survive_!" She challenged.

"Bring it on."

"Alright, Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness, attack and destroy The Creator with your Full Fleet Launching Attack!" Her whale then prepared its not-welcoming cannons, and fired a rain of bullets which knocked down the Creator! "The bigger they are, the harder they fall!"

"Shit, this is bad…" Roy looked as one of his strongest monsters fell, as his life points decreased to 1600.

"Poor Roy, he's in a tight situation now…" Angel muttered, gazing upon the just summoned monster.

"Yeah, but there's not much we can do…" Luke admitted.

–_Roy, just hold on there…!_-

"Okay, my turn…" Roy said as he now drew a card. "Mmm…I'll now use Pot of Greed, and draw two more cards…" And the familiar greedy-looking pot appeared on the field, spitting two cards to Roy's hand. –_Hey, THIS CARD!_-

"OH YEAH!" Roy yelled with renewed energy. "I'll now use this Magic card I just drew, Swords of Revealing Light!" To Marina's surprise, a rain of flashing swords fell on her side of the field!

"Now with these beauties you won't be able to attack me for three of your turns!" He continued. "Now let's see what you can do!"

"Hmph, fine by me," That was all that came from Marina's mouth, ending her just began turn, and a few of the Swords of Revealing Light disappeared.

"If you pass that quickly, then I'll do the same," Roy said, drawing a card, and ending his turn.

"Very well," Marina said, drawing a card. "Your turn." And more swords disappeared, leaving only a few.

Roy then drew a card, and this time, he glared at it for an incredible long time.

"I thought those 2800 attack points were the big thing, but you've seen NOTHING! You see, I'm holding now in my hand a Thunder Dragon (1600ATK/1500DEF), and its effect says how can I discard it and draw two more Thunder Dragons from my deck to my hand," he explained, and so he discarded the mentioned card and drew its two copies left.

"And then, I'll use my Polymerization card I hold here, to fuse these two beasts! Meet now my Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon (2800ATK/2100DEF)!"

Two emerald green serpent dragons' figures appeared ghostly in the field, fusing to summon a fearsome dragon with small but menacing eyes, and two humongous mouths where a human could perfectly fit in, and its stats then rose to 3000 and 2300 points!

"Dammit, just when I thought I got you, you summon a stronger lizard…" Marina said. "Oh well. A good challenge is better than a weak opponent." She grinned.

"Oh really? Well, this 'lizard' will now destroy your Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness with a Twin Lightning!" Using its signature move, the Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon charged energy, and let it materialize in two lighting bolts, and one of them zapped Marina's monster!

"And now, for the Battle Damage!" Roy grinned, and the second lightning headed towards Marina, and suddenly, tornados were formed, blocking the thunder completely!

"HUH?"

"Now this is the second step of my previously mentioned combo! That was my trap card, Tornado Wall! Now that Umi is in the field, it can negate any damage done to my life points!" Marina smirked, looking at her nails, checking if some dust had reached her from the blockage.

"If ANY damage can't be taken with that card…She's invincible…?" Roy said with widened eyes.

"No, that's not true, Roy!" Luke called. "You just have to find a way to destroy that thing and then she's all yours!"

"Yeah, but…How?" Roy asked, placing a face-down and ending his turn.

"Well, it WAS fun playing with you Roy, but this duel must come to an end," Marina raised an eyebrow in an apologetically way.

"What do you mean now? Even though you have that Tornado Wall card, I have the strongest monster on the field!" Roy demanded.

"You think so? Well, fist things first, I'll use Monster Reborn, and bring back my Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness!" And once again, the orca emerged from the depths, in an attack position.

"Again? Marina, you could have brought back a stronger monster and destroy my Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon, like Amphibian Beast, or Terrorking Salmon…" Roy chuckled, looking down on the revived whale.

"Nope, because here is where the third step comes in!"

Everyone gulped.

"Now that I have everything in order, I'll summon a Torpedo Fish (1000ATK/1000DEF)!" A fish shaped exactly like a missile appeared, aiming for Roy's monster while its stats raised each to 1700.

"And what is THAT supposed to do? Teach me how torpedoes work?" The fire-headed boy inquired.

"No, because as my Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness is in play, I can now use its effect! By sacrificing one Torpedo Fish, I can destroy one of your monsters!"

"WHAT! HELL NO!"

"Oh, hell yes! Go my Orca, use your Full Fleet Torpedo Launching Attack!" Marina ordered, and the Torpedo Fish inserted itself in one of the Darkness Fortress' cannons, instantly launching itself and destroying the Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon!

"Holy crap, what she said was true!" Luke said with disbelief.

"Yes, and I would have won if it wasn't for these Swords of Revealing Light," She sighed. "But looking at the bright side, they will be gone now that I end my turn."

And as she said, the Swords of Revealing Light disappeared completely.

"I just want Roy to win this duel…" Angel muttered.

"We both do Angel, but it's just too difficult for him to do it with that Orca monster she possesses. And those Torpedo Fish can destroy any monster!" Luke said, waving hands in the air.

"Yeah well…I believe Roy will pull it off somehow…" Angel said stubbornly.

The score was the following by now, Roy had two cards in his hand and Marina five. She was winning with 1800 life points, Roy had 1600; and on the field, Roy had a face-down card and no monsters on his side of the field, while Marina had her Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness in attack position, and the field card Umi and the trap card Tornado Wall active.

-_Crap, what do I do now? Her strategy is almost invincible! I MUST find a way to destroy that trap of hers…_- After thinking what he had to do, Roy drew a card. –_Hey, this wasn't what I was expecting but.. HEY! This CAN work! I only need the right cards and…_-

Finished thinking, Roy spoke up. "Okay, now I'll summon a face-down monster and end my turn…"

"Alright, now I'll summon a Cannonball Spear Shellfish (1000ATK/1000DEF) in attack position!" A strange looking mollusk slowly emerged from the field, provoking Roy's surprise.

"Well, I would normally laugh at _that_, but in the situation I'm in, I don't think it would ease things," Roy forced a weak smile, while Cannonball Spear Shellfish' stats rose to 1700 both.

"Wait a sec…Her last monster has a torpedo reference in its name…And now she summons a monster with the Cannonball reference…Could it be? ROY! WATCH OUT! That monster may have another link to her Mega-Fortress!" Luke's mind alerted.

"Too late, Muto fan, as there's nothing HE can do to prevent this! Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness, use your Full Fleet Cannonball Launching Attack!" And with the sudden order, the Shellfish inserted itself in the sharp looking artillery of the giant porpoise, and launched itself at an unseen speed.

But instead of destroying Roy's face-down monster, it destroyed his face-down card in the Magic/Trap slot!

"Now THAT'S something I didn't expect…" Angel commented.

"I agree with you, my friend…" Luke said.

"Who said my Cannonball Spear Shellfish HAD to destroy a monster? In fact, tributing it I can destroy one magic/trap card of yours!" Marina explained, now getting excited.

"And now that I don't have to worry about you activating a trap card or a quick spell card, I can attack with my Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness!"

Yet again, her whale made a bullet rain, which destroyed an Electric Lizard (850ATK/800) completely, even though the creature before extinguishing sent a spark towards the bigger monster, leaving it somehow paralyzed!

It was time for Roy to answer questions. "At least my Electric Lizard helped me when about to be destroyed; now your monster can't attack next turn."

"Oh yeah? But how will THAT help you, eh?" Marina chuckled to herself.

-_Argh…She's right…There's nothing I can do for now…But there must be something in my deck, SOMETHING which will let me win against this girl! But the question is…What?_-

Metaldix: OMG! THREE CHAPTERS LONGISH DUEL!

Neverclaw: And the next chapter's duel won't end at the beginning, like others!

Metaldix: It seems our characters are getting closer to the ten star chips, and things are heating up!

Metaldix:: But then again, will Roy win…Or lose against Tamma's unexpected sister?

Neverclaw: FIND OUT IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!

Metaldix: AND LEAVE REVIEWS ON THE WAY!


	18. Chapter 18

S dicho q Metaldix: A new chapter, once again!

Neverclaw: And this one's the third and final part of Roy and Marina's duel!

Metaldix: Who will win?

Neverclaw: Read to find out, but before continuing to the chapter, DISCLAIMER, WORK!

Disclaimer: Whatever…Those two do not own Yugioh, but it is owned by a Japanese man whose name is too complicated to spell…BUT I WILL IN LATER CHAPTERS!

Chapter 18: A Torrentially Troublesome Case (Part Three)

Dueling on a cliff next to Duelist Kingdom's shores, Roy Barker and Marina Steamer were battling with teeth and needle a dueled which was now taking a while. Marina was winning with 1800 life points and had five cards in her hand, Roy had 1600 life points and two cards in his hand. And on the field, Marina had her Trap card Tornado Wall active, together with the field card Umi, and her Orca Mega bFortress of Darkness in attack position, but Roy had nothing on his side of the field.

"It's my turn!" Roy said with determination, drawing a card. "And I'll summon a face-down monster."

"To tell the truth, Roy must be careful with each move he makes, or it can be his last one…" Angel said gloomily.

"Nah, I think he can do this," Luke grinned.

"Trusting in him is common coming from you, but admit it, he IS in a though situation!"

"Oh really? And what about the time he faced that diaper-boy? He didn't hold back? NO! And did he hold back when facing Lance and his Avenger? NO!" Luke said, getting louder with every moment. "Now, he's facing a Marina, and I think that he'll pull it out, just like he did before!"

"Yeah, you're right…Next time I say something like what I just said, hit me!" Angel smiled, recovering hopes of Roy.

"Okay, now it's my turn!" Marina exclaimed. –_Please…Let me draw a Torpedo Fish…!_-

The girl then looked at what she had just drawn, and glanced at the floor with a disappointed look. "Oh well…I'll set summon a monster, and end my turn."

"Phew, Roy's lucky that Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness is paralyzed because of his Electric Lizard!" Angel sighed with relief.

"Yup, but that monster won't stay still forever, next turn, it will surely want to destroy some monsters, or even Roy himself…" Luke grinned.

"That is, IF it's staying for the next turn!" Roy replied, drawing a card.

"You mean…?" Luke's grin expanded territory.

"HELL YEAH!" Roy yelled to everyone's surprise. "Roy Barker is back with action! I now summon…Batteryman AA (0ATK/0DEF)!" His familiar Batteryman AA appeared on the field, stats boosted to 200 both because of Umi.

"I saw that monster before…" Marina then brought back memories of how she destroyed a face-down Batteryman AA before. "But…How to say this politely…It isn't much of a challenge you know…"

Suddenly, Roy's face-up monster's stats were boosted by 1000!

"WHAT!" The aqua-haired girl's eyes almost came out.

"Now THAT'S the Batteryman AA WE know!" Angel jumped with happiness.

"To put it simply, my Batteryman AA gain 1000 points for each of its copies on the field, including itself, and as he's in attack position, 1000 attack points are added," Roy explained.

"Okay, but it's still no match for my Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness!" Mariana said.

"Yes it is, but what happens if I flip-summon my _third_ Batteryman AA into attack position?" Words said, and the last Batteryman AA appeared on the field, and the attack of the two monsters rose to 2200 each.

"What happens? Mmm, NOTHING!" Marina replied. "My monster, once again, is s-t-r-o-n-g-e-r! You got that?"

"Yes, I GOT THAT! Now, if you let me finish…!" Roy said, feeling lucky he was at a fair distance from her, or else she would be nose bleeding by then. "What manners…Anyways, I'll place a face-down card and that's all…"

"I don't blame you, at least you tried…" Marina said with an air of Her Majesty. "Now, I'll summon the Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness (1800ATK/1500DEF) ready to attack!" A bulky warrior emerged from the ocean bed, with a staff which had a sharp edge on its end, and the monster's stats, as expected, were increased to 2500 attack and 2200 defense points.

"And with it, I'll attack your left Batteryman AA!" The Sea Seprent Warrior of Darkness rushed against the tiny battery, until besides it, another ghostly Batteryman AAA appeared on the field!

"Huh? What's _that_?" Angel raised an eyebrow with wonder.

"That was the trap card I just activated, Call of the Haunted, which lets me bring back a monster from my Graveyard, but my trap card will still be active, and if it's destroyed or my Batteryman AA is destroyed, then the other card will also be destroyed," Roy explained.

"Okaaay, but I didn't order to attack THAT Batteryman AA, I wanted to attack the left—CRAP!" It hit her as if a bird's dropping would have fallen on her head. Now that all three Batteryman AA were on the field, their attack rose to 3200!

"I know that, but just to remind you, you attacked monster with a MUCH higher attack! Batteryman AA, counterattack!" Roy ordered, and his tiny but powerful battery discharged on the attacker a quantity of bolts which reduced the monster to ashes.

"Fine, have it your way. I'll end my turn."

"From the looks of it, Roy now seems to be winning, YAY!" Angel exclaimed. "But…Why didn't she change her Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness to defense mode?"

"Because she has her Tornado Wall trap card still active," Luke stated. "And if Roy destroyed it she wouldn't have a scratch after the attack. She COULD have changed it to defense position, yes, and not have ran any risk at all, but on the other hand, suppose Roy destroys the Tornado Wall in his next turn, and Marina had changed her whale to defense mode, any monster could have easily beaten it and let the Batteryman AA finish it."

"Okaaaay, I think I got it…"

"Well, well, well…The stats from now on will change a little bit, don't you think so?" Roy asked her opponent with a smirk.

"On the field yes, but look at the life points dear, and tell me, who's winning?" Marina returned the smirk.

"Argh! You shouldn't answer me like that in this kind of situation!" Roy broke his cocky face, and drew a card. "Go my Batteryman AA, attack and destroy her Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness once and for all, and also her face-down monster! BATTERY DISCHARGE!" Two of his three monsters then let out electricity, which automatically headed against Marina's two monsters; seconds later, the Orca-Mega Fortress of Darkness was falling down, and so was the face-down monster which turned to be an Island Turtle (1100ATK/2000DEF). "Your turn."

"Heh, fine by me…" Marina chuckled.

"Fine by YOU? I just destroyed every monster you had, including your Orca!" Roy couldn't help but bark.

"Don't you know how many things I have saved here in my hand? You don't know what things await you!" Marina said colder than ice itself, drawing a card and starting her turn. "Now, removing two monsters from my Graveyard, I now can Special Summon an attack position Fenrir (1400ATK/1200DEF)!" The North mythological wolf appeared on the field, with little and deadly red eyes, stats increased to 2100 and 1900 respectively, while the ghostly images of Cannonball Spear Shellfish and Torpedo Fish disappeared from the field. "And that's not all! I'll now sacrifice it to call forth a monster capable of wiping out two of your Batteryman AAs!"

"Did she just say sacrifice? In this game no sacrifice tributes are required!" Angel protested.

"Umm…Did she just say 'two of your Batteryman ass?" Luke shyly raised an eyebrow.

"GROSS! HOW DARE YOU…! Now just what things cross in your mind?!" Angel screamed with disgust.

"Okay, okay, I MSUNDERSTOOD, I SWEAR!"

"SHUT UP YOU TWO!" Roy yelled embarrassed. "Err…Marina, could you continue please?"

"As you wish! I summon, Mobius the Frost Monarch (2400ATK/1000DEF)!" What seemed a white knight appeared on the field, with a blue cape, and its stats rose to 3100 and 1700 points.

"Umm….Was that all?" Roy said, exhaling the air he had just hold eagerly.

"No, THAT'S NOT ALL!" Roy then grabbed the air he had eagerly hold again. "As you know, the Duelist Kingdom rules state that any monster, regardless of level, can be Normal summoned without requiring tributes, except if their effect clearly say they just cannot be summoned normally. And others, can be Normal summoned, or Tribute summoned, an optional way, that is, only if their effect is something which is activated by being Tribute summoned, and guess what, my Mobius was one of those monsters! Thanks to the Tribute summon I just made, he can now destroy up to two Spell or Trap cards on the field, but I'll select only one: Your Call of The Haunted!"

And after the long explanation, the Frost Monarch leapt, and fell to the ground, which ironically was water, and the water froze, creating ice stalagmite with headed towards Batteryman AA's 'tomb', destroying it completely, and eventually, the Batteryman AA affected by it returned to the Graveyard.

"No way!" Roy exclaimed with panic, as the other Batteryman AA's attack decreased now to a poor 2200, compared to Mobius' attack that is.

"Yes way! Mobius, destroy a Batteryman AA with your Ice Barricade!" Repeating the attack, Mobius created an impressive ice wall which moved forward and crashed in a kamikaze way against a Batteryman AA, leaving only one, and leaving Roy's life points with 500.

"NOW I finished my turn, got enough?" Marina finished, feeling victory in her hands. "Next turn, this duel WILL be over!"

"We'll see about that…" Roy grumbled, gulping as he looked at the top card on his deck he was about to draw. –_Luke did it many times…I'm sure it's not magic, so I can ALSO do it!_- And with a swift move, he drew, slowly looking at the card he had just drawn. "Umm…Marina? Do you have any other Mobius the Frost Monarch in your hand, deck or Graveyard?"

"W-what? Now that you ask, I think I have another Frost Monarch in my deck, why the question?"

"Cuz you'll be summoning it RIGHT NOW!" Roy laughed maniacally, activating the Magic card he had just drawn. "I activate the Inferno Reckless Summon! With this, by selecting one of my monsters in the field which has 1500 or less attack points, I must Special Summon two other copies of that monster, if I have any of them that is, straight from my hand, deck or Graveyard! Oh, and you also have to do the same thing with Mobius."

"This is NOT good…" Marina sighed, looking for her monarch's copy and Special summoning it to the field, but on the other side, the earth seemed to burp breaking open, and from the deepest part of it, emerged the fallen Batteryman AA, which recharged their energies, boosting their attack to an equal 3200.

"Alone, they may be nothing, but together, they're the strongest trio you could ever imagine!" Roy said, adrenaline feeling his lungs. "BATTERY DISCHARGE!" His minions produced a yellow shower, annihilating Marina's two kings. "Now tell me, what were you saying about finishing me next turn?"

"Hmph, doesn't matter," She simply smirked. "I'll set a face-down card and end my turn."

"Oh suuuure, you wanna make fun of me right? Just because you have that Tornado Wall card doesn't mean I can't win now…" Roy said, drawing a card. "Err…I end my turn."

"Well, Roy, this HAS been a good duel, but it will have to end sooner or later, and I'm intending for it to be sooner!"

"What are you talking about?" Angel asked. "How can you beat three monsters with THAT much power or even one of them!"

"Well, I had been holding these cards a while ago, but I felt they wouldn't be necessary to be used…" Marina confessed. "But, it seems the time for it to be used has come…I now activate a Ritual spell card, the Fortress Whale's Oath!" Her side of the field, peaceful crystal water, began slowly to convert into dark, fiery liquid, crashing in the form of waves against each other.

"W-what is happening? I don't like this feeling…" Angel muttered, beginning to tremble.

"S-she just activated a Ritual Spell card? I have never seen one of them be played, but I heard that even though they can pay a high price they can bring real titans!" Luke gasped, feeling sweat being made.

"And now, the monster I'm about to summon requires for me to discard from my hand or form the field monsters which stars level equals 7 stars or more, and I'm going to discard from my hand Space Mambo (1700ATK/1500DEF), a four star level monster, and Creeping Doom Manta (1300ATK/1200DEF), a three level monster; together they form seven stars, and now that the tribute is done, I summon the _Fortress Whale_ (2350ATK/2150)!" And from the battling waters, yet another whale emerged, this one with a huge horn sticking out of his head, and its stats were increased to 3050 and 2850!

"WHOA!" Angel squealed upon the massive beast.

"Well, I gotta admit it, that's a strong monster with that boost, but it can't face any of my Batteryman AA," Roy said satisfied with himself.

"Yeah, bubt what if I increase my monster's attack by 500 for this turn by activating the trap card I set a turn, ago, Reinforcements?"

"I'm. so. Screwed." Roy gulped again, knowing what was about to come.

"I almost pitty you, Roy. Now, Fortress Whale, attack with your Tsunami!" Creating a MASSIVE wave, the water crushed against a Batteryman AA, not leaving anything of it when the wave subsided, and its companions' attack reduced to 2200, with Roy's life points now at 250.

"And this time, even if you bring back your Batteryman AA, feel free to attack, although I must warn you: the same trick won't work twice!"

The score, once again, HAD changed. Roy, surviving somehow with 250 life points, had two Batteryman AAs in attack position, but no cards in his magic/trap slots, plus he had three cards in his hand. Marina, still with an almost untouched 1900 life points and no cards in her hand, had her recently summoned Fortress Whale in attack position, and the trap card Tornado Wall and field card Umi still active. It was now Roy's turn.

"I'm impressed, they're giving everything they've got…" Angel contemplated the two duelists with awe.

"Yeah, but I just hope Roy win…" Luke said. –_C'mon dude, don't give up NOW!_-

"So, still thinking you can win against me?" Marina said, still with her now irritating smirk.

"Uh-huh, that's a promise," Roy said, looking at the card he had just drawn. –_No good…This card needs another one to be used…_- "I'll pass my Batteryman AA to defense mode, and end my turn."

"Nothing can stop this monster, Roy, that's why I doubted to use it. Face it, you lost."

"I said I would win, what part of it don't you understand?" Roy said with an arrogant tone.

"Okaay, I won't disappoint to, but I gotta tell you, better stop your wishes now than later being broken to little pieces…" Marina replied, shaking her head showing how useless was to reason with him.

"We'll see who breaks the other's dreams!" Roy returned the smile, looking now at the card he just drew. –_HEY! T-this card…! It COULD help me get out of this situation! But now…I only need one card to make this whole thing work…_- "Your turn."

"See? Next turn, you'll definitely lose!" Marina said, braking to an uncontainable laugh. "Fortress Whale, TSUNAMI!" _CRASH!_ Roy's last defense was gone. "Say bye-bye!"

"Roy…" Angel bit her lip.

"Dude, you better win this thing!" Luke said, sweat now covering his face.

"It all depends on the thing I draw now…" Roy gulped for the third time, slowly, he drew…And he sighed with disappointment.

"HA! I knew it! It's impossible you could beat my monster!" Marina said, and if she could really feel the victory at hand, it was now.

"In fact, Marina, I sighed gloomily because I feel sorry for you to be losing," Roy said, smirking WiTh All hIs mIghT!

"THAT ISN'T TRUE!" Marina tried to beat his smirk, but ShE cOUlDn't!

"OH YEAH! And now, I'll use Monster Reborn, to bring back a dear old friend of mine, The Creator!" And from the nothing, Roy's titan appeared, apparently willing to help Marina's defeat at all cost, now in a defensive position. "Your turn."

"For God's sake, don't joke like that! Me? LOSE? Pff, what you are trying to do is to buy time, we all now that, but that defense of yours won't last much longer, be sure of that!" She menaced, finishing her just began turn.

"I don't intend to! In fact, in my next turn you'll be losing!" Roy said, grabbing his fifth card and ending his turn.

"Heh, good one. As if a kid would win against ME!" Marina said, exploding to laughs again. "Ok then, let's see if what you said was true, your turn."

Now Roy drew his sixth card. "Okay, The Creator gave me just the time to draw one more card, the card I've been waiting to use as a tribute!"

"Tribute?" Marina slowly asked.

"Uh-huh, tribute for THIS!" And magically, by discarding one card from his hand, his fallen Tripwire Beast appeared on the field!

"HEY! What just happened?" Roy's opponent demanded.

"According to its effect, I can discard one card from my hand to the Graveyard, to Special summon a fallen monster, which will be my Tripwire Beast!" His electric monster then appeared besides the Creator. "You see, all the cards in my hand were necessary for the move I'm going to make, but what I needed was something to throw away, because now I'll equip my Creator with the Twin Swords of Flashing Light-Tryce!" And two nifty swords fell from the sky, and were grabbed by the Creator's enormous paws. "To activate them, I had to discard one card from my hand, but now my monster even though he lost 500 attack points in the process will be able to attack twice."

"Well, that's something, but your Creator now is even further from beating my Fortress Whale!" Marina reproached.

"Doesn't matter! Now that that equip card is on the field, I can Special Summon my Guardian Tryce (1900ATK/1700DEF)!" Roy's guardian the appeared on the field, ready to fight as always.

"Okaaaay, I still don't get the point! Even though he hass that many monsters, he won't be able to win!" Angel crossed her arms, getting impatient.

"And now…A while ago Marina, you said how monsters COULD be tributed…"

"Yes, why?"

"A while ago, you explained us how monsters which had an effect which would be activated by being Tribute summoned could be therefore summoned in that way," Roy said, a smile growing every second on his face.

"Yeeees, WHY!" Marina's ear turned pink, and leaned forward to hear Roy's announcement.

"Because now, I'll be summoning one of those monsters, which I obtained at the very beginning of this tournament…, I summon you, _Moisture Creature _(2800ATK/2900DEF)!" All three of Roy's monsters disappeared in a blink, as humidity started filling the atmosphere, and then, out of nowhere, the moisture materialized with two round yellow eyes and grabbing an umbrella and a water gun brought of the nowhere as some weapons!

"HEY! T-that monster!" Luke's eyes widened like plates, looking at his friend's first duel reward.

"I don't know what to say…Eww or Aww…" Angel murmured. "It is disgusting to even feel the humidity it brings, but nevertheless, IT'S SOOO CUTE!"

"You care about that? Roy's gonna beat that whale's ass now!"

"What do you mean? My monster is still the strongest!" Marina said, helplessly feeling now how the victory in her hands slipped away like sand.

"You see, if you didn't notice that it was strange how I sacrificed THREE monsters, now that I did that I can destroy _every magic and trap card you have_!"

"WHAT! YOU'RE LYING!"

"No I'm not," Roy replied, his smile now from ear to ear. "Look for yourself! Moisture Creature, attack with your Umbrella!" Incredibly, his monster by opening the umbrella, smashed it against the tornadoes, even water itself, and somehow the Tornado Wall and the Umi field card were now gone!

"Roy! Her defenses are down! ATTACK!" Luke commanded.

"And tell me, how do you intend to do that? My Fortress Whale is still stronger by 50 points!" Marina said, sensing a ray of hope, now that her Fortress Whale's attack was down with 2850 attack and 2350 defense points.

"Oh really? What if I equip now my Moisture Creature with Rush Recklessly, increasing its attack by 700 for this turn? EH?" Ans as he said this, a miraculous boost increased Moisture's Creature's attack to 3500!

"This is not my day…" Marina sighed.

"But it is MY DAY! Go Moisture Creature, attack with your Water gun!" The Moisture Creature then produced an unexpected water power beam exploding from its childish toy, which destroyed on thousand pieces the Fortress Whale!

"M-my monster…" Marina said, tears running through her face, as her life points were reduced to 1150.

"Marina, this duel, is _over._"

Metaldix: ALRIGHT! CHAPTER AT LAST FINISHED!

Neverlcaw: Uh-huh, and it's Roy's time to KICK HER ASS!

Metaldix: People, like last time, we ARE sorry we're buried with schoolwork, it's just that we don't have the time to do ANYTHING. Take me for example, in an hour (really) I'm going out of the state, for some uhh, 'holidays' if that could be said. And I woke up early in the morning (9 a.m.), to finish this chapter….

Neverclaw: So bear with us, people, but in the meantime, REVIEW! NOW, DO IT! YOU TOO, DISCLAIMER!


	19. Chapter 19

basMetaldix: Chapter 19, requested by you, has arrived!

Neverclaw: And this time YES, Marina and Roy's duel will END!

Metaldix: We thought of ending it last chapter, but it would be too long….So, here's the last part!

Neverclaw: And we know this chapter may seem a bit too short, but don't worry, next one will be MUCH longer 3!

Disclaimer: These two do not own Yugioh…………Luckily…..

Chapter 19: A Torrentially Troublesome Case (Part Four)

"Marina, this duel is _over._" Those words hung in the air, and silence followed.

Now that Roy had turned the tables, even though he had 250 life points and one card in his hand while Marina had 1150 and also one card in her hand, Roy had his Moisture Creature in Attack mode, and Marina nothing on her side of the field. Yet it was her turn now, and a good draw could change the duel's outcome.

Marina then placed her slightly-trembling hand over her deck, and drew.

"This is it…" Roy said, leaning forward from his tiny platform.

"Roy Barker, I, Marina Steamer…Surrender…" Marina declared, heaving a sigh.

Roy grinned.

"YAY! ROY WINS!" Angel exclaimed joyfully, throwing her hands in the air, accompanied by Luke.

Roy descended from the arena, smirk on his face, even as Angel wrapped him with cheerful hug and Luke tackled both of them from behind.

"Well, there goes my chance of winning this tournament…" The ocean duelist mumbled, high on her platform, still clearing her cards from the grid.

"What do you mean?" Roy said, hearing her mutter and stepping forward.

"Err…Because by now I had six stars, and now that I'm losing to you two, I don't think I have many probabilities of reaching the finals…"

"Why? I know, this is the third day, but everything is possible!" He pressed on.

"Roy, don't you even glance at the chances? A full cruiser landed here, all duelists. Tell me, what are the chances of me, you or any other reaching the finals? Yugi Muto, Mako Tsunami; skilled people like _them_ have the odds!" Marina explained, raising her tone now.

Luke then glared at his duelist glove, remembering how hard was to get it against Tamma, or the duels against amateur and professional duelists like Zparks or Mai Valentine.

"Take ALL the stars you want from me, but know this, even if you have ten of them, that won't help you a bit."

"You're wrong," Luke suddenly said, surprising everybody around. "I have faced some tough duels to get where I am, as Roy did, and our skill level didn't matter. Take him for example, he started dueling this very tournament."

Marina glanced at Roy instantly, looking at the beginner which had just beaten her.

"And…I also had to duel against Tamma to get here."

"WHAT!" She jumped, and both and Roy with Angel reacted in the same way, they had already thought this thing would be kept in silent.

"Yeah, you see, let's just say to enter this tournament; a duel between us was made to see who would be entering the event, and I err…won…" Luke then innocently rubbed a hand against his hair.

"So, that was it, eh?" Marina whispered, eyelids almost closed, looking at the ground. "Well, too bad for him. It's not like him to lose against a beginner.." She smirked.

"HEEEEY, what do you mean with that?! You want a duel with me now? I don't think you would be able to do it, having lost against a _beginner yourself_!" Luke returned the gesture, evolving to a sarcastic laugh.

"OK, THAT'S IT!" Roy jumped in, offended with the last comment. "You wanna fight AGAIN, HUH?"

"No, not again, Roy!" Angel replied, pulling Roy's almost-healed ear.

"Anyways…" Marina sighed, making everyone pay attention…And stopped pulling the other's ear.

"The last time I saw little Tamma, he considered himself the greatest human ever born, even though I always kicked his ass, both in duels and fights…I guess it was good for him to receive a loss every once in a while, and to think over what he did wrong…"

"I'm not going to bite your ass off, Luke. Don't worry about it. Tamma's fuming, I bet." And with that, she smiled.

"Well, that certainly lightens my conscience," Luke smiled thankfully, feeling sins being discounted.

"So, what now, Marina?" Roy asked.

"Weeeeell, I don't know…If I hadn't stayed all day and night here, maybe I would have met more duelists, you rarely see one around here, so I guess I'll be leaving this isle. I don't think that with two star chips left I'll reach the finals…" She answered, and was about to hand in an eager Roy two star chips, when she hesitated.

"Umm…Stars please?" Roy said sheepishly.

"You know, I don't think I'll get anywhere with them star chips, so why not give them to you now?" She shrugged, and gave Roy her entire duelist glove, four star chips in it.

"ALRIIIIIIGHT!" Roy raised a gloved fist, shining with ten little gold stars on it.

"I-have-ten-star-chips! I-have-ten-star-chips!" And beginning to dance with his emotions, he left a lonely Luke.

"No fair…I want someone who can gimme four star chips at once too…" He muttered, embracing his knees and finding the nearest corner around to lurk in the shadows, rocking himself.

"Err, is he okay?" Marina asked the younger girl, sweatdropping.

"Ahh, don't worry; he gets like that every time Roy shines and he doesn't get anything," Angel chuckled.

"OOOKAY, all ready to go!" Luke said cheerfully, preparing himself to walk without any particular destination…again.

"Wow, I'm impressed by how fast he recovered," Marina noticed. Luke began to feel uncomfortable bit by bit with her looking at him.

"Hehe, hey Luke.. want to touch a TEN STAR CHIPPED GLOVE?!?" Roy said, a comment which then turned to a yell in Luke's ear.

"Laugh while you can, you flame-haired freako. But soon; soon I'll have my own ten star chips! Which will then be well welcomed at Pegasus' castle, where Yugi will be of course!"

"That's the spirit!" Angel cheered. "You sure you want to go all by yourself to the port, Marina?"

"Hey, you're talking to an adult; adults know how to guide themselves, even in the biggest jungle!" Marina said, raising a bag to her shoulder.

"I would say an old hag instead of an adult…" Luke whispered to Roy's ear.

"I can hear you Luke, you know that?" A big vein formed around Marina's head, ignoring the offense.

"Well, we wish you luck back to South America!" Roy said.

"In fact, I was thinking of stopping by at the Steamer residence, but thanks anyway!" She exclaimed, beginning to walk away.

"Yeah, and tell Tamma I'll be wanting a rematch from him!" Luke added.

"Ohh, and if _you_ meet him first, tell him I'll be waiting for him at his house!" Marina said, with an air of mystery.

"But he's in Japan, and I'm here at this island, miles away…" Luke pondered, trying to find a deeper meaning in the comment.

"Pffft, the Steamers are much more persistent than what they seem like!"

"Much more persistent, eh? We'll see about that…" Luke chuckled to himself, looking at the girl, who was headed towards the horizon.

"Okay, now… To find Luke an opponent!" Roy shouted, and so the three departed ways, or the two better said, as Angel didn't move.

"Guys…" She, a _Duelist Kingdom Atlas_ in front of her face.

"What's the matter?" Luke raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't Marina say she could move along by herself even in the biggest of jungles?"

"Yeeeeah, why?" Roy cocking his eyebrow now.

"Because Marina is going the other way round…The port isn't in that way…" A sweatdrop formed on her head.

"Ahh. Leave her, she'll find her way soon enough…" Luke affirmed turning and walking towards the skyline.

"Hehe, that's right! That'll teach her if she's an 'adult'!" Roy laughed to himself, following Luke.

"I hope so…" Angel sighed, knowing whatever she said wasn't going to work now.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Japan, Domino City. Inside an enormous mansion, surrounded by golf-yard sized gardens with an unimaginable quantity of plants, a teenager sat down on his leather chair, facing an oak desk piled with Duel Monster cards, all scattered on it. He glanced upon each and every one of them, organizing some of them into a deck.

_Knock knock_.

"Come in," The charcoal-haired boy answered immediately, and on the other side of the large room, a wooden door opened. The butler came into view, wearing a black handsome tuxedo.

"Sir, are you sure about this?" The servant asked, miraculously speaking with a booming voice, despite his old age and his long white beard hanging from his chin.

"Lloyd, please don't start. I said I was going to fly _there_ by helicopter, and that's it," The teenager spoke, not even turning to the just arrived one.

"But sir, the tournament lasts _three_ days, and apart from arriving with an unauthorized entry, all the duelists will be leaving by the time you're arriving, therefore not finding what you seek," The old man replied, trying to convince his master at all cost.

"So, what do you suggest I do? Wait here with my arms crossed?" The leather chair seemed to speak by itself from the servant's point of view.

"Well, you _could_ wait…" The man answered, but he instantly shut his mouth, realizing his mistake.

"WHAT? Luke Blake will be dueling there with his little friends while _I_ sit here like frozen shit?" This time the chair turned around with its wheels, showing a familiar face with gray eyes, a red shirt with a black leather jacket over it, and a pair of brown trousers.

"ME? Tamma Steamer? He's bitching around with the glove and stars _I_ should have won!"

"Master, I didn't mean it in that way, please forgive my arrogance. What I meant was for you to wait until the cruiser arrived, and maybe that Luke you so much speak about will be in it, so you'll just wait for him to come down, and do whatever you want with him…" The man made a weak smile, which was useless with his beard all over it.

"FINE. Have it your way, Lloyd. I guess that Luke won't reach the finals, considering the loser he is, but at the same time, it irritates me to think he'll be coming back with hands empty, while _I_ could be there, surely in the finals by now, facing Maximillian Pegasus!"

"But wasn't that Luke Blake you call a loser the one who won against you that other time, sir?" The man inquired, slapping himself again.

"Lloyd, you know you're serving me just because you were a VERY loyal butler to my parents, right? Well then, if you want to keep your job, just _shut _up. Now, be useful and bring me some lemonade."

"Yes, sir…" Robertson bowed deeply, and slowly closed the door by which he had come in.

Turning his wheeled-chair again and facing now the deck with cards on it, he started piling them up in a deck, slowly gazing upon another one when he had his hand on one, looking for an even better card.

-_Luke Barker, how dare you to steal my title of honor, beating me like _that_. I'll make sure you pay for it, and then you'll bow to me, like the very loser you are!_-

And a malicious smile rose upon his face, turning to a wicked cackle which echoed in the mansion.

Neverclaw: Guess who's birthday is tomorrow? Yeah, mine! April the 16th is meh birthday! But, on other notice:

Metaldix: OH NOES! Tamma had another cameo! An eeeeeeeeeevil one!

Neverclaw: Roy now has ten friggin' star chips, YEAH! But for Luke, things are going to be tough, with only six star chips! He must win, or else he'll face an enraged Tamma welcoming him at the port….And also confront his parents, the teenager's worst enemy!

Metaldix: What will happen to our trio? Find out in the next chapter folks, and place your reviews by the way!


	20. Chapter 20

Metaldix: CHAPTER 20 REACHED, YAY!

Neverclaw: ALLLRIGTH! And we're SO excited to write this chapter; we won't make any intro at all!

Disclaimer: Those weirdoes don't own Yugioh, but they own Yugioh GX!...Joking…

Chapter 20: An Earth-Shaking Duel

"ANNNNNNNNNNNGEEEEEEL, PLEEEEEEASE!" Roy called, sweat falling through his head with the sun high above in the bright blue sky.

"You know what, I'm tired of you!" Angel yelled, to the vast wastelands that surrounded them. "This is the tenth time you ask in ten minutes, for Christ's sake! These plains aren't THAT long!"

"She's right, we shouldn't drink up the only bottle Marina gave us, even though we're thirsty…And there's so little water that only one person could wet its throat with it…Ohhh boy…" An exhausted Luke asked, starting to drool slowly.

"YOU TOO?! Luke, I thought of you a bit higher than to degrade to _Roy's_ level!" Angel said, but wasn't paid attention at all, as both teens' eyes were locked on her bottle of water.

"Aww c'mon! I know this is the shortest way to Pegasus' castle according to Marina, but should we take this route?" Roy inquired, still not looking at her face.

"Because we don't have exactly all the time we could want, since the tournament is ending TODAY," Angel repeated, trying to maintain her peaceful tone.

"Yeah, and there we maybe can meet someone who like us is waiting for some star-chips!" Luke continued, feeling delighted with even the thought of filling his own glove.

"Look, we can see his castle from here!" Angel's face broke into a smile, gazing upon the tiny brick building, high above placed in a hill for everyone to guide himself.

"At last! We're gonna reach our goal!" Roy cheered, jumping around frantically.

"Oh yeah! And then, I wonder what Mom will—" Luke was still venturing in his dreams, when a chill covered his body in the middle of the hot wasteland.

"What's the matter Luke?" Angel asked curiously.

"I-I don't think I'll be wanting to leave this island at all…" He gulped, his face turning purple.

"Why not? You can't stay and live here, you know…" Roy replied.

"It's better than going back and seeing my Mom enraged…Now THAT'S hell…"

"Ohhh boy, come to think about it…How WILL they react? We've been missing for three days…" Roy said, curiously the first time they talked about the topic.

"Ahh, what's the matter, you two? Scared?" Angel smirked devilishly.

"Hmph, I'm sorry! We do not have a kind-hearted Grandpa and Dad living with—" Roy began to say sarcastically, when he received a direct hit from Luke to his jaw.

"I-I'm sorry…" He then looked down at the floor, apologizing.

"It's ok…" Angel flinched.

They continued walking with an silent, uncomfortable air during the rest of the journey, until Luke tried to break the ice.

"Ehhhh…HEY, LOOK, WHAT'S THAT!"

Both Roy and Angel's eyes turned to where Luke was pointing, a blurry thing could be seen through the infernally searing air.

The thing then expanded, looking larger, and to everyone's surprise, it turned to be a Dueling Arena, somewhat rusty.

"Check it out! Who would think an arena would be in a place like this?" Roy's eyes widened, running up to it, and verifying it wasn't a mirage.

"Luke, who's that?" She whispered in her friend's ear, pointing at a now visible caped person, sitting against the dueling arena's walls.

Roy, who hadn't noticed the stranger before, turned and found him right besides him, a fact that made him jump with both surprise and fear.

"Who are you?" The red-head demanded.

"I see you're a duelist." The person replied, with a tone which couldn't be identified as a man or girl.

"Okaaaay, glad you've noticed that," Roy said at the person glancing his duelist glove.

"Now who are YOU?"

"But you've got ten star-chips." The voice said, dripping disappointment.

"You wanna duel, right?" Luke stepped forward towards the figure, which suddenly leapt behind Luke, and grabbed his head.

"Luke!" Angel exclaimed, followed by a comment of a worried Roy.

"Stop you two, this may be my opportunity to reach my tenth star chip," Luke continued, face to face with the hooded person.

"You…You'd duel me?" The cloaked figure said, and a weak smile could be seen in its

half-hidden face.

"Yeah, but reveal yourself, I don't want to be dueling against someone I don't know…" He said.

"Then we shall face each other!" The hooded person suddenly yelled, taking off the dusty robes and revealing…herself.

"So, you're my opponent?" Luke questioned. The girl, about 18, hair colored deep chocolate under a red bandanna, rather tall and menacing-looking, nodded.

"Anyways, I'm Roxanne, and I'll be dueling against you, small one," Roxanne said, pulling out a deck from her tight jeans' pocket, and brushing off a bit of dirt from her brown leather jacket, worn over a white T-shirt with the word 'Fierce' on it.

"Small one? The name's Luke!" The boy introduced himself, rather indignantly.

"Okay, we'll be playing in this arena, so, let's go!" The serious girl heeded, ascending onto the arena.

"Yeah, let's go!"

"So, Luke will be wagering three star chips this time?" Angel said, looking at Luke's opponent.

"Yeah, meaning that if Luke wins, he'll only need one single star chip," Roy nodded.

"Very well. Let's flip the coin, and I'll call it heads!" Roxanne said solemnly. The holographic coin appeared on the field, got tossed in the air as if repelling the ground itself, and fell flat on...

"Tails, yeah!" Luke smiled, drawing five cards and a sixth one for his draw phase. "Okay…I'll be summoning my Warrior Dai Grepher (1700ATK/1600DEF) and I'll equip it with a Sword of Dragon's Soul!"

His muscular warrior appeared on the field, replacing his two-handed sword with an even more impressive one, which increased his attack points to 2400.

"Cool! Way to go, Luke! Beat that girl down to nothing." Angel screamed, and noticed how Roy was looking at her grinning.

"Jealous, are we?"

"SHUT UP!" She yelled even louder, almost pulling off Roy's ear.

"My turn," Roxanne said, drawing a sixth card. "Only one card will be enough to finish that monster of yours. My powerful Muka Muka(600AATK/300DEF)!"

A tiny and weird looking insect appeared on the field, with red, bulky eyes and sharp claw, and suddenly, its attack got raised to 2100 and defense to 1800 as its body grew and grew!

"HEEEEEEEY! What the hell happened to that thing?" Luke exclaimed, seeing an insect now bigger than his Warrior Dai Grepher.

"My Muka Muka gets a 300 stats boost for each card in my hand, meaning that raised my monster's attack and defense by 1500," His opponent explained.

"1500…1800…2100…Wait a sec, its stats are higher than what you sa—" Roy interrupted himself, realizing the field type in which they were dueling.

"So you noticed, eh? We're in the wastelands, so all the field is pure wasteland, giving a 500 boost to Dinosaur, Zombie and Rock-Type monsters. And. In case you haven't noticed, Muka Muka is a Rock-type monster! So, I'll finish my turn with Muka Muka attacking your Warrior Dai Grepher!"

Her giant 'insect' then tore Warrior Dai Grepher apart in a flash with its claws, reducing Luke's life points to 1800.

"No…" Luke said, watching helplessly his warrior vanish. "You're going to pay for that! I'll set summon a monster, and end my turn."

"Okay, then!" Roxanne said, drawing a card and eventually boosting her Muka Muka's attack to 2900. "Muka Muka, attack his monster now!"

Preparing to attack once again, Muka Muka attacked the hidden monster with its claws, but what resulted to be of the face-down monster was an elfish warrior, sporting a green tunic and longsword. It was Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (1400ATK/1200DEF), who resisted the mortal onslaught.

"How come my monster has a much higher attack than your warrior's defense and still didn't destroy it?" The girl inquired.

"That's because my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian can't be destroyed by monsters whose attack is soaring over 1900," Luke grinned. "Battle damage would normally be applied, but as he's in defense…"

"Oh well, I guess I'll call the turn a failure," Roxanne's eyes narrowed. "But before I finish my turn, I'll summon a face-down monster."

Muka Muka's attack then decreased to 2600.

"Right, my turn!" Luke said, drawing a card. "Well, I'll also Set summon a monster, and end my turn."

"Mmm…" Roxanne looked up at the sky, pondering. "Your Obnoxious Celtic Guardian can't be destroyed by monsters with 1900 points or higher…Ah, I got it! I'll just decrease my Muka Muka's attack!" She said, clapping happily.

With the recently drawn card, Muka Muka's attack had grown back to 2900, but then she placed three cards face-down, reducing it to 2000.

"And then, I'll summon my Enraged Muka Muka (1200ATK/600DEF)!" The same monster as Muka Muka –whose attack got decreased once again to 1700- appeared on the field, same eyes, same purple claws; only this one seemed much more angry with its new giant red throat which seemed that it was about to explode.

"Eew, not another of those things!" Angel shook her head with disgust.

"Yeah, yeah, so, what's the difference between the new one and the old Muka Muka?" Roy wanted to know.

"That the one I just summoned will raise its attack by 400 attack points for each card in my hand!" Roxanne laughed, as her monster's attack and defense grew to 1700 and 1100 because of the field bonus, plus 800 points because of her two cards remaining in her hand, giving it a total of 2500 attack points.

"And now that we're ready, Muka Muka, attack Luke's Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, and Enraged Muka Muka, attack his face-down monster!" Her older monster attacked and destroyed the guardian now that its attack points allowed it to, but the enraged one didn't have as much luck as its companion had, attacking a man wielding a massive shield which somehow could resist the attack.

"You DID destroy my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, but your Enraged Muka Muka attacked my Big Shield Gardna (100ATK/2600DEF), which as you notice has a higher defense than your monster," He grinned, looking her life points decrease to 1900.

"But, as a cost, my monster has to change to attack mode once the Battle damage step is over, although I suppose you'll be ending your turn now that you attacked…" Luke guessed.

"Yeah, I think so," Roxanne agreed.

The stats were the following: Roxanne was winning with 1900 life points and had two cards in her hand, Luke had 1800 life points and had four cards in his hand. On the wasteland, Roxanne controlled both Muka Muka and Enraged Muka Muka in attack mode and a face-down monster besides them, with three face-down cards behind them. Luke only had a Big Shield Gardna in defense mode…

"My turn, and I hope I draw something good…" He said, slowly drawing a card, and then looking at it. A broad smile appeared on his face as he looked to other cards in his hand to realize a new plan.

"ALRIGHT! I'll now summon my Armed Dragon LV3 (1200ATK/900DEF), and use with it the magic card Level Up!"

His favorite orange dragon appeared on the field, challenging its bigger opponents.

"…LV?" Roxanne said staidly, as if she knew what was going to happen.

"Roy, isn't that…?" Angel's eyes began to widen with anticipation.

"Oh. Yeah." Her friend answered back.

And suddenly, the little lizard began to shine. It grew bigger and bigger, and its blinding light vanished. A mighty red and black dragon with metal spikes and knuckles, smoke pouring from its nose holes, replaced the old one.

"So…Another LV user.." Roxanne muttered.

"Okay, let me explain…According to Armed Dragon LV3's effect, at the end of the turn it is summoned, I can sacrifice it and summon an Armed Dragon LV5 (2400ATK/1700DEF). But the Magic card Level Up 'accelerated' that process, bringing its evolved form right now. And so, Armed Dragon, Muka Muka with your Dragon Flames!" Spitting a beam of fire, the dragon incinerated its target, reducing the girl's life points to 1200.

"Finally, I'll end my turn placing a face-down card." Luke finished with a knowing smile, as his Armed Dragon LV5 began to shine once again!

"Finally…The last form.." Roxanne commented anxiously.

"Haha, very funny. Now that my Armed Dragon LV5 destroyed a monster by a battle's result, at the end of my turn I can bring its evolved form from my hand or deck, and this time Armed Dragon LV7(2800ATK/1000DEF) is coming straight from my deck!"

Shining and evolving, from level five to seven, the dragon now stood in an almighty pose, with its full armor covering its red skin, and drills coming out from knuckles and various parts from the body.

"Luke, you should be preparing you're defeat speech." Roxanne said, knowingly. "Now that I have drawn a card, Enraged Muka Muka has 2900 attack points.

"OH NO, what am I gonna DO?" Luke sarcastically said, rubbing his hand against false tears coming from his eyes. –_My face-down card is Negate Attack, you attack me, I'll activate the card skipping your Battle Phase, and then it will be my turn to finish you off with my Armed Dragon's effect._-

"But anyways, I won't even need to attack your dragon to destroy it."

"OOOH NO, what am I go—W-WHAT? Won't need an attack to do it?" Luke exclaimed, gulping at Roxanne's power.

"She's kidding!" Roy tried to convince himself, efforts in vain.

"You can't destroy his dragon just like that!" Angel protested, wishing there was a rule not to destroy Armed Dragon just after they're summoned.

"Ohhh believe I'll do it!" Roxanne said grimly, raising two cards from her hand, and preparing to activate them…

Metaldix: Roxanne appears! What will happen to Luke now?

Neverclaw: HIC!...Too much…HIC!...Par-tays…HIC!

Metaldix: Err, that's right folks, a reason for why this chapter was delayed to be posted was because we had too much real life parties…Only that my editor had TOO many of 'em…

Neverclaw: HIC!...Reviews please…HIC!...And some more vodka would also help…HIC!

Metaldix: 0.o No you won't, I'm gonna make sure you return to school in one piece!


	21. Chapter 21

Metaldix: Luke and Roxanne started dueling!

Neverclaw: And now she tells us how she can beat the Armed Dragon LV7 without attacking!

Metaldix: IS she speaking the truth? You guys will find out now!

Disclaimer: Fortunately, Metaldix and Neverclaw do not own Yugioh nor any of its original characters.

Chapter 21: An Earth Shaking Duel (Part Two)

The sun was now slowly descending, as Luke and Roxanne continued their duel. Roxanne had three cards in her hand and 1200 life points, Luke was winning with 1800 and had two cards in his hand. On the field, the teenager possessed his Armed Dragon LV7 in attack mode and Big Shield Gardna in defense mode, plus a face-down card. Roxanne had an Enraged Muka Muka in attack mode and three cards face-down.

"She can't destroy Luke's Armed Dragon LV7! It's his strongest monster!" Roy said, stunned.

"Oohh, believe me, I can! And now, I'll activate the magic card, Book of Moon. With this card, I can flip face-down a face-up monster on the field, and I'll be choosing your Armed Dragon LV7!" An encyclopedia-sized book appeared on the field, opening itself, and obliging Armed Dragon LV7 to flip face-down.

"And how will THAT change anything?" Angel solicited.

"What will this do? Well, I will now _sacrifice_ Enraged Muka Muka, to summon and activate the effect of Granmarg the Rock Monarch (2400ATK/1000DEF)!" A fissure cracked across the field, just below the Enraged Muka Muka and it fell. But then, with a single leap, another monster came out from the crevice: an earth-armored monarch with massive fists, which ironically made the rest of the body parts look smaller, even though his stats rose to 2900 and 1500.

"Did you just sacrifice?" Luke raised an eyebrow, but it then hit him, remembering her words.

-'… to summon and activate the effect of Granmarg the Rock Monarch!'…_I hope that effect isn't a good one!_-

The golem suddenly hit the ground with its massive fists, creating a fissure towards the hidden Armed Dragon LV7, who fell into the gap, disappearing completely!

"NO!" Luke yelled, watching as his loyal dragon evaporated right before his eyes.

"What was that?" Angel inquired, trying to gather the series of sudden events.

"Simple: when Tribute summoned, my Granmarg's effect allows me to destroy one face-down card of yours; Magic, Trap or Monster cards included," Roxanne explained.

"And that was only his effect, now he can attack! And I'll be attacking your Big Shield Gardna! Great Fissure!"

Her monarch once again slammed the ground, and it cracked opened, making its target fall in it with an echoing bawl of despair.

"Luke's defenses are down…" Roy gulped. "Let's just hope he gets something good now…"

"Ok, I'll be drawing now," Luke said, adding one card to his hand from his deck.

–_Maybe I should have used the Negate Attack trap card to save Big Shield Gardna…But I guess it was a risk I had to take…_-

"Weeeell, I'll set a face-down monster, and end my turn…" Luke sighed as a dark silhouette appeared on his side of the field.

"Ohhh, now that your poor Armed Dragons are dead, you're running out of ideas?" Roxanne mocked. "You better do something, or else I'm gonna wipe out your life points!"

–_Well, this monster's attack is pretty good, I could destroy Luke's face-down monster…No, I'll save it for _THAT _move…_-

"Granmarg, attack with your Great Fissure—"

"Not so fast, my dear Roxanne! I'll activate my Trap card, Negate Attack, which will cancel your whole Battle phase!" With the magical words said, Luke's trap card revealed itself, a great portal which stopped the monarch's moves completely.

"Okaaay, if to buy time is what you want, ok, your turn." Roxanne spoke. _–I lucked out__! If I had summoned this monster, I would have left it unprotected!- _

"Cool! I'll activate Pot of Greed!" Luke smiled as he played the card he had just drawn; only to draw two more cards, and stare at them for a few seconds.

"Mmm…I will now summon my Luster Dragon (1900ATK/1600DEF) in attack mode!" His luxurious dragon appeared on the field, amazing everyone with its beauty.

"You know, I could be happy with a diamond skin like that," Angel said, as money

signs replaced her eyes.

"Yeah, I could use a Batteryman AA to recharge my hair-dryer! Those things are expensive, ya know…" Roy said.

"You use a HAIR DRYER?!?"

The duel was delayed a few minutes because Luke made fun of Roy, and then they became the usual cloud of fists. Once settled, Luke continued.

"I'll place a face-down card, and end my turn."

As the duel continued, Roxanne watched how her opponent had left a monster unprotected, harmless against any attack of hers.

–_Strange…He's leaving a monster with a weak attack compared to Granmarg's in attack mode…It must be that face-down card…Oh well, if I'll be wanting to end this, I'll face it head on!_-

"Alright, I'll be summoning Destroyer Golem (1500ATK/1000DEF) in attack mode!" A huge stone man appeared on the field, golden artifacts adorning its fists, and its stats increased to 2000 and 1500 in a flash.

"Now, Granmarg the Rock Monarch, attack with your Great Fissure!" Roxanne's stronger monster advanced, easily cracking the floor as potato chips.

"Luuuuuke! You better do something NOW!" Roy advised, frantically.

"If you say so!" Luke accepted, activating his trap card, which somehow made Luster Dragon start to charge a fire breath, which grew second by second!

"Explain." Roxanne said, shortly.

"I activated the trap card, Burst Breath! Now, by sacrificing a dragon from my side of the field, it will destroy all face-up monsters of yours whose defense is lower than its attack, and right now Roxanne, both Granmarg and Destroyer Golem are being targeted!"

"Nic—WAIT! That will leave Luke's life points open for an attack!" Angel protested.

"Angel, THINK. Luster Dragon was going to be destroyed anyway, so what he did was to sacrifice it first, to destroy every monster of hers. Besides, she won't be able to summon anything now that she summoned that Destroyer Golem, and then it will be Luke's turn!" Roy said, ending with a cheerful grin.

The Luster Dragon then erupted a flaming breath which incinerated the more powerful Granmarg the Rock Monarch and Destroyer Golem, just as the fissure caught up to him, which by an unknown reason took longer than usual to reach the dragon. A bit.

"So that was your plan…" Roxanne's eyebrows narrowed. "Very well, I'll end my turn…"

"Alright! Time to take a big bite out of you life—" Luke then noticed how Roxanne's three face-down cards stood there, watching him with invincible eyes, and smirking, challenging him.

"You were saying?" Roxanne said seriously.

"Okay…Or I attack your life points…Or I just build up some defenses…I'll stick with option A. I'll summon my Luster Dragon #2 (2400ATK/1400DEF), and attack your life points with your Emerald Headbutt!" As soon as bigger form of the normal Luster Dragon appeared on the field, with more developed legs and wings, it flew towards the defenseless Roxanne, pointing at her with its head.

"Wrong option, then! I'll activate my trap card, Enchanted Javelin! This will increase my life points by the attack points of your dragon." Her life points rose immediately to 3600, but then she received the fatal impact from the attacking monster, reducing them once again to 1200.

"Oh well, at least there are now two face-down cards on your side of the field and not three…" Luke tried to convince himself, but his efforts were in vain.

"My turn!" Roxanne said aloud, examining the card she had just drawn.

–_I was thinking of using _that_ now, but maybe this will also work along!_-

"Okay, I'll be summoning Armor Exe (2400ATK/1400DEF) in attack mode!" A monster with a strange looking armor materialized on the rocky grounds, despite its boost that increased its stats to 2900 and 1900 respectively.

"You see, Armor Exe has a strict effect. First of all, it can't attack on its first turn. And then, I must pay a Spell Counter each Standby phase for it to survive." She explained.

"And where are you going to take those Spell Counters from?" Luke raised an eyebrow.

"From here, my Pitch-Black Power Stone," Activating another one of her face-down traps, which were just three dark but nevertheless shining stones. "These three stones are Spell Counters, which can be freely translated across my side of the field, but right now I'm gonna leave them there and use them for my Armor Exe's effect.

"Righto, but if you can't attack, I'll guess it will be my turn." Luke said, drawing. "I'll be passing my Luster Dragon #2 to defense mode, set a face-down monster and end my turn," Luke said, as his dragon guarded itself with its protective wings, and a hidden monster appeared besides it.

One Spell counter had been removed from play when Luke's Standby Phase started, and so did the second now that Roxanne had drawn a card. "Ok, I'll also be summoning a face-down monster, and with Armor Exe, I'll attack your Luster Dragon #2!" The monster only required its claws to destroy the dragon, deadly weapons they were.

"Your turn." Roxanne said, holding the same number of cards Luke had in his hand, two. She was losing with 1200 life points, but had Armor Exe in attack mode and a face-down monster in defense mode, with one card face-down and the active Pitch-Black Power Stone, one Spell Counter remaining on it. Luke only had a face-down monster on his side of the field, even though he was in the lead with 1800.

-_I HAVE to draw them, quick! I don't know how much time I'll hold him off if not…!_- Roxanne began to sweat, knowing she wouldn't be able to maintain the match if those cards weren't in her possession.

Luke's turn began, and right after he drew a card, the last Spell Counter was removed from the Pitch-Black Power Stone, eventually destroying the trap card.

"Ok, now that those Spell Counters are gone, that means Armor Exe will also be gone when this turn ends, as she won't be able to pay the necessary tribute for it!" Roy examined.

"Meaning Luke will only have to worry about that face-down monster of hers!" Angel said.

"Now, I'll use the Polymerization card to fuse the one monster which is in my hand, Dark Blade (1800ATK/1500DEF), and Pitch-Black Dragon (900ATK/600DEF) which was the face-down monster of mine, to form, my mighty Dark Blade the Dragon Knight (2200ATK/1500DEF)!"

A ghostly image of the Dark Blade appeared on the field, materializing each second, and then it mounted the Pitch-Black Dragon which had revealed itself, starting to rise with each flap of its dark wings.

"And then, I'll place a face-down card, to end my turn."

Luke's turn had passed, and with no Spell counters to pay for Armor Exe's effect, it departed immediately.

Roxanne drew a card hopefully, but sighed with depression again. "I'll now be removing Destroyer Golem from my Graveyard, to Special summon Gigantes (1900ATK/1300DEF)!"

Just as Dark Blade, a phantasm with the form of Destroyer Golem appeared over a second; when from the skies fell a massive ogre, a horn in its face and a bullet-proof armor, stats increased to 2400 and 1800 respectively.

"Gigantes, attack Luke's Dark Blade the Dragon Knight!" The girl ordered, as her beast ran in a grotesque way towards the Dragon Knight, raised its fist, and was ready to slam when, from out of nowhere, a huge army of men appeared, climbing Gigantes and stopping its onslaught!

"That Roxanne, is my trap card Reinforcements, which will boost one of my monster's attack by 500, so, better say good-bye to Gigantes!" Luke said, as his monster's attack increased to 2700, and with a swift swing of its blade the knight destroyed Gigantes, reducing Roxanne's life points to 900.

But Gigantes wasn't going to fall just like that. In fact, even though its recent wound was going to finish it off in seconds, it jumped and bounded, creating an earthquake which destroyed Roxanne's face-down card!

"HUH? On whose side IS that thing?!?" Roy said wondered.

"On mine, but according to Gigantes' effect, when it is destroyed as a result of a batle, it will destroy every magic and trap card on the field, and this time, its only target was mine!" Roxanne explained. "I didn't think Gigantes would have been destroyed so soon…"

"It seems Luke is giving her quite a fight…" Angel noticed.

"Every thing she has summoned, Luke has passed through!" Roy said with a smile. "And I bet he intends to keep doing—What the…?"

Suddenly, Dark Blade's sword began to glow, pointing at Roxanne's Graveyard.

"Oooh, I had forgotten about that!" Roy said, remembering from the last battle the fusion's full effect.

"Roxanne, when my Dark Blade the Dragon Knight inflicts Battle Damage to you, like how he just did, I can remove up to three monsters in your Graveyard, and I'll be willing to do so, removing Granmarg the Rock Monarch, Armor Exe, and Gigantes!" Luke commented. "Now, use your Banisher Buster!"

Three bright rays were shot from the blade, each removing one of the said monsters, which disappeared from the game immediately.

"Great. Things sure can't get worse now…" Roxanne ran a hand through her large ponytails.

"Yes they can, as it will be my turn now!" Luke said, drawing a card. "My turn will only consist in two things: I'll summon a face-down monster, and now I'll attack YOUR face-down monster! Dragon Knight Buster!"

His flying monster dived from the sky to the defensive monster, blade ahead of the very dragon's head, ready to slash and dice things, but what was revealed from the card, was a massive stone golem with 2500 defense points!

"That was my Giant Soldier of Stone (1300ATK/2000DEF), and thanks to the field bonus, it resisted your attack," Roxanne said. "You were saying that after those two things you'd end your turn right?"

"Yeah…" Luke growled, while his life points reduced to 1500.

His opponent drew a card, and for a long time, she gazed at it.

"Swords of Revealing Light! These blades will stop you from attacking three whole turns."

And from the now orange sky, flashing swords came down, inmobilizing Luke's two monsters. However, his face-down monster was somehow obliged to turn face-up, revealing his Serpent Night Dragon (2350ATK/2400DEF).

"Hey, why did it reveal itself?" Angel inquired.

Part of the Swords of Revealing Light's effect, Angel. It will turn any face-down monster face-up on the opponent's side of the field," Roy explained.

"Ohh…"

"And then, I'll summon a face-down monster," Roxanne said.

–_I must get the other two cards in these three turns, I already possess two…One here safe in my hand…And the other in the field._-

"My turn!" Luke said. "Umm…There's nothing I can do right now…" And some of the bright swords disappeared on the field, leaving two thirds of the initial total.

"Then I guess it will be my turn," Roxanne said, glancing firmly at the top of her deck. Slowly, she drew. –_Only one left._- I'll set another face-down monster, and end my turn."

Luke instantly drew another card. "I'll set a face-down card, and end my turn." And now, more than a half of the swords were gone, his monsters could now almost move freely.

Roxanne, by an unknown reason, was now trembling. –_I must draw it…NOW!_- She drew, with the arm which had the drawn card extended. She slowly stretched it, putting the card right in front of her face. –_D-damn! This is not it!_- "I'll pass."

"Wow, she's very nervous right now…" Angel looked with surprise. "How can a game like this one make you sweat so much?"

"Well, the fact that if you win these games you can win like two million dollars doesn't affect you at all, nope." Roy sarcastically said.

"Ok, this will be the last turn those Sword of Revealing Light are here!" Luke cheerfully said, drawing a card. "Aaaand I'll be ending my turn now." Just as he said, the swords disappearing completely.

"My turn…" Roxanne muttered.

–_This is my last opportunity. If I don't draw that card, he will destroy my face-down monsters, key to summon it…Master Shadi, HELP ME!_- And with that last thought, she drew, her last hope. Beaming at the card, she smirked.

"Heeeey, are you going to play?" Luke asked impatiently.

"Luke. Your advantages in this duel end now!" She exclaimed decisively.

"What are you talking about?" Luke laughed, but nervously. "I have higher life points, and a stronger monster!"

"Heh, you think so?" She raised an eyebrow. "I now summon…Alpha the Magnet Warrior (1400ATK/1700DEF)."

Neverclaw: Roxanne summons Alpha the Magnet warrior! What will NOW happen?!

Metaldix: Alpha the Magnet Warrior? Who's that?

Neverclaw: Uhh….You don't know ALPHA?!??!?!?

Metaldix: No, it doesn't ring any bell…

Neverclaw: --'' You wrote this chapter…

Metaldix: Yeah, but somehow I don't remember…OOOOOOOOOOH! ISN'T THAT THE MONSTER YUGI USED TO SUMMON----

Neverclaw: SHHHHHHH! Don't you dare to spoil! And don't you dare spoil Shadi's connection here!

Metaldix: Ok! Feel free to comment about this, people!


	22. Chapter 22

Metaldix: And Luke is now playing in his three-chapters long duel against the Rock-user Roxanne!

Neverclaw: Will his warriors and dragons beat her in her territory? Find out now, in chapter XXII!

Metaldix: 0.o We use numbers, not Roman letters…

Neverclaw: Oh, right. Find out now, in chapter twenty two!

Metaldix: NO! Not THAT type of letters, I meant NUMBERZ!

Neverclaw: Sheesh, ok, cool down! CHAPTER 22, FINE?

Metaldix: Oh, and people, please try to understand that from now to two weeks after, maybe we won't be able to post any chapters, as we'll be VERY busy with tests, but keep checking if you want to!

Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh, but we own Yugi's barber, and GOD, that guy can maintain even the biggest of scalps!

Chapter 22: An Earth-Shaking Duel (Part Three)

Having dueled all midday, fortunately –and unfortunately as time was running out- the sun continued floating gently down, seeming to sink in the far away sea. As his transpiration slowed down, Luke looked at the current status of the duel:

He was winning with 1200 life points, and held two cards in his hand. He had a face-down card on his side of the field, and two monsters. Dark Blade the Dragon Knight was in attack mode ready to fight, and Serpent Night Dragon in defense mode ready to guard.

On the other side of the field, his opponent had two cards in her hand, 900 life points, two face-down monsters and the Giant Soldier of Stone in defense mode; plus her Alpha the Magnet warrior in attack mode, just summoned.

"That monster is…odd." Roy stared at it, trying to change his perspective of it, but it was useless.

"Ahh, doesn't matter, every monster looks odd to me! Except Fox Fire, of course." Angel said. "I mean, you summon thunder dragons or batteries, and Luke plays with dragons and men carrying all kinds of swords!"

"Well yeah, if you look at it in that way…"

Roxanne just gazed at her gray monster, covered with magnets with red and blue prints at their edges. "Okay, Luke, time to get things interesting! Let's see if you can keep up with me now that I'll be summoning THIS!"

She flipped her two other monsters, Beta the Magnet Warrior (1700ATK/1600DEF), and Gamma the Magnet Warrior (1500ATK/1800DEF), each one resembling the other, despite of its size or attack.

"Three magnet warriors, eh? Well, I guess you'll do something with them now," Luke said, and couldn't help but smile.

"Believe me: I will! I will sacrifice them all; to Special summon my mighty beast, Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500ATK/3850DEF)!!"

It was as if a magnetic field had taken over the field. The three warriors' parts and limbs starting separating as if they were toys, and together they reformed a superior figure, this one possessing different parts of the three like the metallic wings of Gamma's, or Alpha's sword. But one thing was for sure; it wasn't a plaything, not with its boosted 4000 attack and 4350 defense points.

"Holy…CRAP!!" Roy started to jump frantically and running in circles. "HE'S DOOMED! HE'S DOOMED! HE'S DOOMED!"

"HEY! Would you shut up and lend your friend a hand instead of saying how his ass is going to be kic—Oh dear…" Angel started, only to realized she herself wasn't very sure of her argument.

Despite this, Luke didn't pay them any attention. He was too busy trying to blink. "Such power…So many attack points…"

"I'll be showing his true strength right now! Valkyrion, attack Luke's Dragon Knight with your Magnetic Positron Attack!" Her monster then created a tingly gravitational zone, in which pebbles could lightly float, and using different kinds of charges, the behemoth of a monster sent these rays towards Dark Blade.

"W those attack points, she can wipe out Luke!" Angel gasped.

"Not if I activate Switch, a trap card which will re-direct your attack to another monster of mine, and I choose my defense-positioned Serpent Night Dragon!" Luke said rapidly, in the nick of time as the charges consumed his dragon, destroying it completely.

"Ok, your life points are safe, again; but they won't in my next turn!" Roxanne assured.

"I just hope you're wrong…" Luke gulped, drawing a card. "I'll pass my Dark Blade the Dragon Knight to defense mode, and I'll also set a face-down monster, ending my turn."

"See? There's nothing you can do facing a monster like Valkyrion!" The girl scowled, drawing a card, and not even bothering to look at it. "Now my monster, attack his Dark Blade!" Her monster repeated the mesmeric attack, this time hitting its original target.

"My turn again…" Luke muttered, hopefully looking at his drawn card. "I'll set a face-down card, and that will be all!"

"Poor Luke, I wish I could help him…" Roy lamented by the sides, a tear running down his cheek.

"Ohh, who're you trying to trick? We all know you very well wish you weren't in his shoes right now!" Angel turned at him.

"Shh! Maybe Luke doesn't know that, maybe he does believe I'm sorry for him!" He put a hand over her mouth before she could counter him with something.

Once again, it was Roxanne's turn, in which she drew a card and this time took the care to glare at it, smiling only slightly.

"I will summon Sand Stone (1300ATK/1600DEF) in attack mode!" Nothing changed on her side of the field, only the stats of what seemed the ground were raised to 1800 and 2100.

"Uhh…Didn't you summon something just now?" Luke raised an eyebrow.

"YES! I think I saw that part of earth transform to sand!" Roy said excitedly, but was glared with suspicion in return. "What? Can't someone be a good observer?"

"Anyway, I'll attack your only monster with Valkyrion in case it has a high defense…" Words said, Roxanne's monster swiftly controlled the electricity in the air, forming sparks which destroyed instantly Luke's face-down Masked Dragon (1400ATK/1100DEF).

And just when she was about to command her 'earth' to attack, another Masked dragon appeared in defense mode, guarding Luke's life points.

"That's the effect of my dragon for you," Luke said with a grin. "When destroyed as a result of a battle, it can Special summon another dragon to my side of the field from my deck, if its attack points are lower that 1500, and I chose its twin, which I happen to have in my deck."

"Alright, I must say you are a good time delayer, but it won't be enough! Sand Stone, destroy his second Masked Dragon!" Nothing changed on her side of the field…until some tentacle-like limbs shot out of the earth just where the dragon was, and asphyxiated it!

"Well, that just now seemed as if the very own field was on your side," Luke let himself chuckle, while his third Masked dragon took the twin's place.

"Yes. And it is so that this duel will be mine in my next turn!" Roxanne allowed herself a stern smirk (Neverclaw: o.o Is a stern smirk even POSSIBLE? For crying out loud.).

"Not if I can help it!" Luke said, drawing a card, a glinting his eyes. "I'll be placing a face-down card, and end my turn."

"See? With those stats, Valkyrion can't be defeated in battle!" She kept saying. "Now, Sand Stone, attack Masked dragon!"

Vines shattered the ground below the last copy of Luke's Masked Dragons, strangling the beast to death, and after that, a giant menacing dragon appeared on the field, fortunately looking half-asleep.

"That's my Dragon Dwelling in the Cave (1300ATK/2000DEF), which I Special summoned in defense mode because of my previous Masked Dragon's effect," Luke commented, as Roxanne's Life Points fell to 700.

"No matter, Valkyrion, destroy that dragon!" She ordered, and her monster charged towards the defenseless dragon, but was stopped by the force of magic!

"Sorry Roxanne, but I won't let that happen. I activated my Spellbinding Circle, a trap card which won't let your Magna warrior attack or change positions, and this card will be destroyed when Valkyrion is destroyed," Luke explained, and exhaled all his nervousness at last.

"HA! You think that can stop it?"

"What do you mean? Of course I think my trap can stop it, it ALREADY stopped it!"

"Then I pity you, Luke Blake," Roxanne lamented. "As I'll be offering Valkyrion Tribute according to its effect, to bring from my Graveyard, all three of my Magna Warriors!"

Although it was practically impossible, Valkyrion broke the rules. Dividing itself into many parts, Valkyrion formed once again its previous forms, Alpha, Beta and Gamma, all in attack mode.

"You gotta be KIDDING ME!" Luke groaned, just when he thought problems were disbanding, more were forming.

"That girl just won't give up!" Roy moaned.

"As if!" Roxanne laughed solemnly. "And the best thing is, these three can attack right now! Beta, attack and destroy his dragon!" Beta, with its boosted stats of 2200 attack points, prepared to attack the Dragon Dwelling in the Cave…But didn't.

"Luckily Roxanne, I had this other face-down card, Super Junior Confrontation! The battle you just ordered will be negated, and instead, your monster with the lowest attack will attack my monster with highest defense; and as I currently have only one monster in defense mode, it will be my Dragon Dwelling in the Cave the chosen one!"

"You had it all planned, didn't you? Ok, go…Sand Stone…" Her monster attacked fiercely Luke's dragon with its whip-limbs, tried to strangle it, but it just wouldn't work! The sleeping monster then rolled to its back looking for a more comfortable position, and the Sand Stone's limbs were smashed and left like paper.

"And after this battle, your Battle Phase is over at last, meaning my turn begins!" Luke added, as her gloomy opponent's life points were reduced to 500.

Luke's turn was starting as he drew his third card to his hand; the same number of cards Roxanne had. He still had 1200 life points, but she had 500. On the field, the boy had Dragon Dwelling in the Cave in defense mode, and Spellbindding Circle still face-up. On the other side, the girl had her three Magna Warriors: Alpha, Beta and Gamma, plus Sand Stone; everyone in attack mode.

"Heeeey, why does Luke still have his trap card active? That Valkyrion monster was destroyed!" Angel protested.

"Actually, it wasn't literally _destroyed_," Roy replied.

"How can you say that? We all saw how it sacrificed itself to form those three magnets again!"

"Yeah, but as you said, it _sacrificed_ itself, not destroyed. Those terms can easily be confused, but they are totally different things, understand?" Roy asked.

"Yes, I think so…"

"Let's see what do we have here…" Luke examined his hands carefully. "Ok, now that Valkyrion isn't around, I don't have to fear summoning my Gaia the Fierce Knight (2300ATK/2100DEF)!" His armored knight appeared on the field, lance and horse ready to battle. "Attack her Beta the Magnet Warrior with your Thrusting Lance!" His monster then galloped and destroyed its target just as told, reducing Roxanne's life points to 400.

"Your turn."

"You think you're gonna beat me just like that?" Roxanne grimaced. "Well, then you're wrong! I'll be removing Giant Soldier of Stone from my Graveyard, to Special Summon my Rock Spirit (1700ATK/1000DEF) in attack position," A muscular soldier with rusty Spartan appeared on the field, whose skin didn't even seem to be made of meat and flesh.

"Then, I'll pass every other monster on my side of the field to defense mode," Alpha and Gamma both passed to defense mode with these commands, while the Rock Spirit's stats rose to 2200 and 1500 respectively. "And with my spirit's boosted stats, I'll attack your Dragon Dwelling in the Cave, this time destroying it!"

Her monster slammed the earth, slamming the earth below him, and a rock peak emerged from the still asleep dragon, taking it by surprise and annihilating it.

"Oh well, at least he was of use to me…Now, I'll be placing a face-down card, and with Gaia, I'll attack—" But before he could finish, he noticed how Roxanne's Rock Spirit attack rose by 300 attack points.

"Explain that, you rock-girl!" Roy demanded.

"You see, Luke, my Rock Spirit gains 300 attack points once your Battle Phase begins, yet it returns to normal once it's over," She apologized.

"You should have said that earlier…" Luke crossed arms. "Okaaay, if I can't destroy that monster, then I'll be attacking Gamma the Magnet warrior!" Gaia and his horse destroyed the target in million pieces once again without even flinching.

"Crap...Well, I will now be setting a face-down monster, and I end my turn…"

"Then it will be my turn again, and I'll be setting another face-down card! Gaia, attack her face-down monster!" His knight pierced through his opponent's hidden monster, revealing an ugly worm.

"EEEEW!" Angel said, terrorized. "How can a girl hold that thing in her deck?"

"Hmph, if that Medusa Worm (500ATK/600DEF) would have stayed one more turn, I would have flip-summoned it and destroyed your Fierce Knight, though you got lucky…" Roxanne sighed, drawing another card, and this time, she drew something which attracted her attention.

"Heh…Hahahah…HAHAHAHAHAH!" She started laughing out loud all of a sudden.

"Now she's definitely gone nuts…" Roy backed away from her.

"Who would have thought I would have to use THIS…But it seems Master Shadi wants me to use it!"

"Use WHAT? Master Shadi? What's going on?!" Angel asked, her forehead starting to sweat.

"And now….I'll be removing EVERY monster in my Graveyard: Muka Muka, Enraged Muka Muka, Giant Soldier of Stone, Beta the Magnet Warrior, Gamma the Magnet Warrior, Valkyrion the Magna Warrior, Sand Stone and Medusa Worm …To Special Summon…The mighty and only, _Megarock Dragon_ (?ATK/?DEF)!"

Phantasmal images of every removed monster from Roxanne were swirling frantically around, and as if obeying them, the own earth started shaking, and from it mud masses of earth emerged slowly, forming legs…A body…A tail, and a long neck which ended in a head, and then it solidified, forming one MASSIVE hard-rock dragon!

"Oh my God, Luke's really in trouble now!" Angel gasped.

"Holy…CRAP!!" Roy started to jump frantically and running in circles. "HE'S DOOMED! HE'S DOOMED! HE'S DOOMED!"

"WOULD YOU STOP SAYING THAT?!" Angel said, pulling from the ear and shutting Roy's trap.

"But wait! That thing doesn't even have 0 attack or defen—" And as he had done with the Rock Spirit, he stopped himself and looked how his monster's attack AND defense rose…And rose…And rose to a flabbergasting 6000!!

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!" Luke yelled, feeling how his eyes would not withstand seeing such a monster before him.

"You though Valkyrion was strong? Now look at THIS beauty! It gains 700 attack and defense points for each Rock monster removed, plus the field bonus! _You can't beat me_!"

"S-she removed every single monster from her Graveyard! She's NOW GONE NUTS!" Roy exclaimed.

"Luke, BE CAREFUL!" Angel yelled.

Luke, meanwhile, was trying to at least move his tongue. "This can't be…," Was everything that escaped from his mouth.

"THIS DUEL IS MINE! MEGAROCK DRAGON, ATTACK GAIA WITH YOUR--"

And once again, the person was interrupted, but it wasn't because of Luke, or Roy, or even Angel. It was from a voice that sounded far away in the distance., through a bull horn it seemed.

"Duelists! This is Maximillion Pegasus, and I've got an important announcement to make, so please pay attention!"

Metaldix: ZOMG! ROXANNE'S GONNA OWN LUKE!

Neverclaw: ZOMG! PEGASUS IS GONNA SAY SOMETHING IMPOOOORTANT!

Metaldix: ZOMG! FIND OUT THE DUEL'S RESULT, AND PEGASUS' ANNOUNCEMENT IN THA NEXT CHAPTER!

Neverclaw: ZOMG! REVIEW PLEASE!

Metaldix: ZOMG! I JUST EDITED THIS! Yeah, we confused with Megarock's ATK and DEF points, they were 6000, not 6700, as Alpha was still on her side of the field.


	23. Chapter 23

Neverclaw: Chapta 23 is here!

Metaldix: And after some time, we were able to post this thing!

Neverclaw: Now, before we speak about Pegasus' announcement, give your cheers to DA DISCLAIMER!

Disclaimer: At last, some respect! And I am happy to say that those two do not own Yugioh!

Chapter 23: New goals

"I repeat: please lend me your ears, duelists!" The echoing voice of Maximillin Pegasus boomed across the island. All over it surprised duelists, who turned their heads towards the castle, stopping their current duels, trades or any other thing which kept them busy.

"What does he want now?" Roxanne crossed her arms, angry to have been interrupted.

"People, I'm indeed sorry to announce this, but the tournament is _over_. Four finalists have been chosen already, three of which have just entered our gates!"

Luke felt how a skyscraper hit him from above then. –_OVER?_-

"No way…" Roy said, his jaw open in disbelief.

Angel couldn't believe her ears even as the tycoon repeated his message. "The finalists are: Bandit Keith, champion of the United States; Mai Valentine, winner of various regional tournaments; Yugi Muto, a resent duelist who has been climbing the ladder of fame and…What does it say here? _Joey Wheeler_? Now who is thi—" The microphone then was put off to avoid problems.

"Not…Possible…" Roxanne said, and seconds later exploded into anger. "I WAS SO CLOSE! SO DAMN CLOSE!"

"It's all my fault…If I hadn't taken so long, then Roy and I would have entered Pegasus' castle…" Luke clenched his fist.

"Crap, now he's blaming himself…" Roy muttered. "DUDE! Don't you go now saying it was all your fault! It wasn't your fault and you know it! We did everything we could!"

"Yeah, he's right! Cheer up, Luke!" Angel added.

"But…Everything's lost now…What are we gonna do?" Luke shrugged, feeling like throwing his cards from the dueling grid in that very same moment.

"Meh, we'll decide about that later!" Roy inserted his little finger in his nose.

"Yeah! Now, finish your duel, and don't worry about that; I promise everything will be arranged at the end!" Angel grinned as her friend recovered.

"Okay, thank you guys…" He said, and then turned to Roxanne: "So, if I recall correctly, you were going to attack me, right?"

"Yes, indeed! Megarock Dragon, attack Gaia the Fierce Knight and finish him!" The still-enraged Roxanne yelled, as her behemoth shot out rocks at full speed from its mouth.

"Not if I can help it! Activate, Zero Gravity!" Luke yelled, as his trap card made every monster on the field change their positions! Megarock Dragon stopped its attack then as it changed to defense mode.

"As you can see, my trap card could change every monster's position on the field, and that made your monster stop its attack," Luke explained.

"Yes, I could see that for myself…" Roxanne muttered bitterly. "Well, ending my turn, I think I'll leave my Megarock Dragon as it is, as it has high defence too. The one which I'll be passing to attack mode will be my Rock Spirit."

As Roxanne ended her turn with 700 life points, Luke's began with 1200. He drew his third card to his hand, while on his side of the field he had Gaia the Fierce Knight in defense mode, one card face-down and his Spellbinding Circle still face-up. Roxanne had four cards in her hand, her Megarock Dragon and Alpha the Magnet Warrior in defense mode, and Rock Spirit in attack mode. Behind them, a face-down card.

"And guess what, Roxanne, your Megarock Dragon won't be staying for long!" Luke said.

"What makes you think that? You couldn't defeat Valkyrion, and now you're saying THAT?" The girl's eyes narrowed.

"Don't believe me, eh? Well, let's see what you'll do when I summon Grandmaster Sasuke (1800ATK/1000DEF) in attack mode!" His purple and only ninja appeared on the field, holding his twin daggers tightly. "Go, attack her Megarock Dragon!"

"WHAT?!? But...That is suicide!" Roxanne said astonished, but then noticed how the ninja had climbed her dragon's long neck, and dethroated it with his daggers!

"HOLY COW!" Roy yelled out loud, shielding himself with his arms as the enormous rocky head fell, shaking everything that was near.

"I TOLD you that dragon wasn't staying for long," Luke grinned. "Because my Grandmaster Sasuke's effect explains how I can destroy any face-up defense position monster of yours without applying Battle damage."

"You…You had it all planned, didn't you? It all started since you set that Gravity Zero card!" Roxanne said icily.

"Uh-huh!" Luke nodded. "Gaia, attack her Alpha the Magnet Warrior!" And with a swift attack, his knight had already destroyed its adversary.

"Well, at least you left an opening for me to attack!" Roxanne smiled. "Just look at your Grandmaster Sasuke, so defenseless against my Rock Spirit!" Without even having to say the order, her Rock Spirit instantly smashed to pieces the ninja, reducing Luke's life points to 800.

"Yeah well, it's just a monster," Luke grinned, rubbing the back of his head.

"Just _a_ monster?" Roxanne started to back away from her distant platform.

"Y-yeah…Just a Duel Monster…You know, the card game we are currently playing…"

"God, don't tell me I was like this kid before…" Roxanne sighed.

"What are you talking about?" Luke asked confused. "We ARE playing a CARD game you know? Nothing's real here, they're just holograms!"

"Kid, don't you even know what led you so far in this tournament?" The girl exasperated. "Unbelievable!"

"Uh, Angel? That girl is starting to go nuts, even though I have repeated this line several times before…" Roy commented to his equally confused friend.

"Anyway, Roxanne, this is just a game, and you know it. You just must want to confuse me while I'm winning!" He chuckled. "Good tactic, but it won't work! I will now use my Polymerization card, to fuse Gaia the Fierce Knight with my Curse of Dragon (2000ATK/1000DEF) which is in my hand, to form, Gaia the Dragon Champion (2600ATK/2100DEF)!"

A yellow and large menacing dragon appeared on the field, and Gaia, dismounting his horse, jumped up to the dragon's back, raising his lance with pride.

"Then, I'll use my Emergency Provisions card, to destroy any magic or trap card of mine to gain 1000 life points, and I'll be using Spellbinding Circle for this! And with my Gaia, I will now be able to take down your Rock Spirit!" He said with triumphal, as his monster attacked Rock Spirit and destroyed it, leaving Roxanne's life points with an even miserable 600.

"Booyah! She's going down!" Roy jumped.

"That's what YOU think," Roxanne countered, losing her solemn attitude for a moment. "Look, I am not going to waste my time with a turd like you who doesn't acknowledge his very own cards. I'll finish you with the very spirit of my deck, the roots from where all came, The Raging Earth (2000ATK/1500DEF)."

In one last attempt to defeat Luke, the earth started forming yet another creature, only this time it was much bigger than the Megarock Dragon, this time forming a four-limbed beast, which made a loud moan like an undersea whale, as it increased its stats to 2500 and 2000 respectively.

"Hey, it isn't THAT strong, it's much weaker than her Valkyrion, let alone her Megarock Dragon! In fact, it isn't a challenge for Luke's monster!" Angel noticed.

"Yes, but what if I activate my face-down card, Reinforcements?" Roxanne inquired. "It will increase my monster's attack by 500, enough to wipe out your new Gaia! Raging Earth, attack with Raging Earth!" The monster did it's ironic attack, as it jumped up and down, creating such an earthquake, that somehow made Gaia fall off from his dragon in the air, defenseless against the monster's massive paw.

He was smashed like a potato chip.

"Oww…That's gotta hurt…" Roy admitted, seeing how Luke's life points reduced to 1400.

"And then I'll set a face-down card, ending my turn."

"Crap, you sure don't lack strong monsters…Ok, I will now draw a card…" He trembled, slowly looking at it. "DAMN! Why won't this deck just give me something—"

"HEY! Watch your mouth!" Roxanne demanded, her eyes ablaze.

"Now just what IS your problem? It is MY deck, I can say anything about it!" Luke argued.

"You say that deck didn't do anything for you? Just tell me, what mysterious force in this world gave you that Spellbinding Circle to stop my Valkyrion in a draw, or a monster capable of destroying my Megarock Dragon? THAT DECK! So would you just stop criticizing and PLAY?" She yelled.

"Why are you so obsessed with me and this deck?" Luke asked, taken aback.

"It's a long story…Of how a man saved my life, and taught me the true meaning of Duel Monsters…" She said to herself, but aloud.

"True meaning? What are you talking about?" Luke said, perplexed.

"If you win, I'll tell you the complete story," Roxanne gave a rare little smile.

"Oookaaay, but I will be ending my turn as I don't have anything else to do..."

As Luke ended his turn with two cards in his hand and 1400 life points, it was now how Roxanne's began with four cards and 700. On his side of the field, there was a face-down card, and on her side, her Raging Earth and a face-down card.

"My turn," She said, and looked at her card. "Well, I was hoping I would not end this duel just like this, but it seems I will have to! RAGING EARTH!"

Luke's face-down instantly activated, summoning three maidens which protected the boy from receiving any damage at all. "Waboku! This will negate any Battle damage done to me during this turn!"

"Fine, then I'll end my turn…"

"And now, I will begin with mine!" Luke said. –_'Deck', if what Roxanne says it's true, then I have to apologize to you, as this is my last effort to win. Please, give me something good!_—

"MONSTER REBORN!" He yelled, activating his just drawn magic card. "Come forth, my fallen Gaia the Dragon Champion!"

His dragon knight then appeared on the field, anxious for revenge. "I'm sorry, but it will be ME who will be saying goodbye to you! GO, DRAGON LANCE!!"

"GO GET HER!" Roy yelled as he watched the dragon zoom past him towards the rock colossal monster.

"NOT SO FAST! ACTIVATE, MIRROR FORCE! This will backlash any attack and destroy your attack positioned monsters!" She yelled, as a sudden mirror wall stopped Gaia's lance from even touching her monster, and turning it against him, stabbing him and destroying both knight and dragon.

"NO!" Luke's eyes widened. "T-that was my last chance…!"

"Sorry, but it is now my turn, and I will end this with a final _**RAGING EARTH**_!" Her monster then made another earthquake, slamming the earth, and solid peaks came out from the ground, hitting an astonished Luke…and reducing his life points to 0.

"No way…" Angel said.

"H-he lost? LUKE LOST?" Roy said, overwhelmed.

"Sorry, Luke, but this duel is over." Roxanne said, simply picking up her cards from her dueling grid, and descending from the arena.

"STOP!" Luke said, as his hair overshadowed his face. "I-I challenge you to a rematch! Everything or nothing! J-just give me another chance!"

"Are you kidding me? Pegasus just said this tournament's over. I'm going to the port, nice meeting you." She said, turning and walking away.

"D-DAMN!" The frustrated boy hit his fist against the dueling grid, falling to his knees. –_I couldn't do anything…!_-

"Luke…" Roy said to himself, watching helplessly his friend cry.

"I couldn't do anything…ANYTHING!" He kept bellowing. "I was so close…So close reaching the castle…And giving Yugi's cards back! **SHIT**! **DAMN**!"

"If you really want to succeed…"

Everyone turned, and saw how Roxanne had stopped walking, but she still wasn't turning around.

"You should train," She said, and beamed at Luke, who raised his wet face. "Train and become stronger, and I'm not saying you should just buy newer cards, YOU should train."

"Oh, don't come with that shi—"

"No, I mean it. You want to know why I won against you? It was because I was one with my deck, you just kept drawing and drawing, waiting for it to give you something good. You must have gotten this far because of that, I have no doubt, but it seems that with just ONE loss you lose all hope. _Pathetic_."

"W-where could I find you again?" Luke said, rubbing his face with his sleeves.

"Anywhere, I'll be in the next big tournament around, as I also have my goals to accomplish," She said. "Are you guys coming with me to the port?"

Both Angel and Roy looked up to Luke, waiting for an answer.

"I...I…I'm sorry, but I do not think so," He said with newfound determination. "We still have some things to do here, we'll try to get inside Pegasus' castle and find a certain person we came looking for…That is, is my friends are coming along with me…"

Roy grinned. "That's the spirit, we still have a delivery to accomplish!"

"Yes, we're all together in this!" Angel said happily. "So come down here and let's get going!"

"Ok, then we'll be parting ways from here," Roxanne smiled weakly once more, and was about to resume her walking when she realized something. "One more thing, Luke!"

"Yeah?" He replied, putting away his cards.

"As I don't have anything else to do with these, and you might need them, here you go, catch 'em!" She said, and threw some tiny golden objects, from below the arena to the top of it, right into Luke's hand.

"Whoa, she does have a good arm…" Roy whispered to Angel's ear.

Luke then opened his palm, and saw how there lied the remaining star chips which his duelist glove needed to be complete, four in total!

"You really mean it?" Luke said.

"Yeah, just don't be losing against everyone, okay?" She said, and finally started to walk towards the port.

"COOL! That means we both have ten star—" Roy started cheering, but remembered Pegasus' announcement a while ago.

"Anyway, come down here Luke! We should get going!" Angel called him.

"Y-yeah!" He said, hurrying himself, but giving a last glance to his own deck.

-_I couldn't do anything to stop her…I'm sorry…-_

_-I'm sorry…_ -

Metaldix: And so, our partly sad end is revealed.

Neverclaw: Luke lost, and both of them didn't reach the finals…

Metaldix: But fear not, as they still have their goals to accomplish!

Neverclaw: Like giving Yugi Muto his Exodia cards!

Metaldix: And there are still some baddies out there who need to be taught a lesson or two! Who can they be? Find out in the next episode!

Neverclaw: Don't forget to review, folks!


	24. Chapter 24

Metaldix: So, after a tough and disappointing duel, our main characters decide to complete their main quest anyway!

Neverclaw: Now, they must reach Pegasus' castle at all cost!

Metaldix: Let's just hope they CAN, that is!

Disclaimer: Yugioh isn't owned by Metaldix nor Neverclaw…HEY! Look! I didn't say anything unique this ti—Oh wait…

Chapter 23: A Quest only Maintained by Hope

"So, we now have to get in the multimillionaire's house, eh?" Roy raised an eyebrow, walking along the ending wastelands.

"Yeah, and it would be nice to do it before the sun falls…" Luke advised, seeing how the golden coin was still slowly descending.

"Don't worry, everything will be alright!" Angel cheered, raising a fist.

"Yeah…" Luke tried to smile, but his efforts were in vain.

"Aww, you still depressed about that loss against that Roxanne? C'mon, no one could have won against someone like her!" Roy intended to give his friend high spirits, but he well knew how Luke wasn't going to cheer up just with that.

"If no one could have won against her, why didn't she get to the finals?" Luke asked gloomily.

"Weeeell, we found her in those wastelands, meaning she could have stayed all three days there, waiting for opponents to come at her," Angel said. "Instead of us, who walked aaaaaall around the island looking for people to duel with!"

"Right! And as you see, we earned lots of star chips with this method, so there wasn't anything we could do to prevent the finalists from entering the castle," The red-haired boy added.

"Unless…You were the last to duel…" Luke's eyes glimmered with hatred as he remembered how Roy had won against Marina Steamer.

"Oh, it's not my fault!" Roy stopped his moves, waving hands nervously with negation. "Besides, you were the one who didn't want Kari's and Crusher's star chips!"

Luke's head fell even deeper, looking as if he had a huge hump.

"Nice one, Roy," Angel scolded. "Look what you've done…"

"Oh come ON! He started it!" Roy defended, wishing a lawyer was there, but the conversation was cut by a sudden yell.

"HEY YOU! YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!"

Three heads turned to see where the voice was coming from, and they saw a man right besides the distant dueling arena they had just left.

"Who's that guy?" Angel whispered to Luke's ear, somehow not wanting a mile-away man to hear her.

"Maybe a maintenance employee…You know, after this event ends, someone has to shut down the dueling arenas, or at least that's what I'm guessing him to be…" Roy suggested, but also in a low voice.

"Let him come near, and we'll then talk with him, if he forces us to go to the port, then we'll just go with plan B," Luke shrugged.

"Plan B?" Angel looked at him as if his skin had suddenly changed color. "Since when do we HAVE a plan B?"

"Shhh! He's coming!"

And as Roy said, the man was approaching fast. The white man had a black tuxedo with tie, wore sunglasses and they could see his hair pressed to his head, as if he had gone over it fifty times with a comb.

Angel took a few steps back, but Roy grabbed her arm.

"You! Can't you hear me? I'm saying you must all report back to the port, where you'll be headed back to Domino City!" The suit repeated, panting now besides them.

"What? How were we supposed to know that?" Roy made an innocent face.

"You know, Maximillian Pegasus said it himself and bothered to even repeat the message!"

"Oh, sorry, we must have been somewhere else when he said that…" Luke shrugged again.

"Somewhere else? He spoke through a microphone! The entire island could have heard him! Now just what could you have been doing to not to—" He then realized how short they were in comparison to his height, and then looked at Angel, to beam back at the two other boys.

"Ohh you're just one of those teenagers…You must have been doing that stuff all over the place now that your parents weren't with you, right? Sheesh, kids today…" The man around his forties grumbled.

"What do you mean?! YUCK!" A disgusted Angel yelled. "We were going to go to—"

She was then instantly interrupted by Angel. "We were going to meet a…a friend! Yeah, a friend who we had arranged to meet at a certain place in this island!" Roy nodded and nodded, as his lie grew with coherence.

"Yes, and that's why we were going the wrong way, but don't worry, we'll be heading back right after that," Angel laughed nervously.

"Then why don't you just meet at the port, you turds?" The impatient agent said, surprising the younger boys with his sudden vocabulary. The

"Becaaaausee, well, you see…" Roy started, stepping in front of the man and looking up at him. With his hand, he raised a finger behind his back to the other two.

"That's because…" He raised a second finger, and Luke then grabbed Angel's arm, and took the astonished girl away, running at full speed.

"Where do you think you're--!" The guy was about to give chase, when he received a direct hit to a sensitive area of his by Roy.

"GO, GO, GOO!" Roy yelled, running as fast as he could and leaving this defenseless man in the wastelands, moaning with pain and not daring to touch between his legs.

After having reached once again the deep woods, both Luke, Roy and Angel were extremely careful with their actions, now that they had injured an official staff member of the island, everyone was in plain alert.

"Hehe, they'll never catch us!" Roy whispered to his crouched friends in a thick bush, as they saw two men in black right in front of them on a marked path.

"Shut up, they could hear us!" Luke hit him, watching the chatting two slowly walk away.

"See? They didn't hear us at all," Roy stood up, checking if somebody was in sight, and walked out of the hiding plant to the path.

Angel followed him. "Yeah well, the fact that it's darkening helps, but what if they had heard us? We would be in serious trouble!"

"Aww you two protest for everything," Roy groaned. "So, are we going to go to Pegasus' castle just like that and infiltrate?"

"Yeah…It shouldn't be that difficult, I guess…" Luke smiled, shoulders shrugged.

"You DO know we're entering a watched-over area filled with security cameras and bodyguards, and WHAT bodyguards!" Roy said. "Did you see that last one? He was HUGE!"

"What do you suggest then? Grab a sniper rifle and from a high place take them all down?" Luke raised an eyebrow sarcastically.

"I wouldn't mind," Roy played along.

"C'mon guys, we gotta think of something," Angel focused.

"I'M SLEEPY!" Roy raised his hand.

"Could YOU stop complaining and help?" She replied.

"Actually, I'm pretty tired too…" Luke said. "We both didn't sleep at all last night, and we had some action for today, so I think we could be calling it a day for now…"

"Okay, okay," Angel agreed. "Let's just look a safe place to rest at, and then we'll think of how to get inside Pegasus' castle…"

"Yay!" Roy exclaimed.

"Hey! I think I've heard something over here!" A voice said through the various trees and path vines.

"Uh-oh…" Luke gulped. "Quick! Hide!"

Meanwhile, at the very residence of Maximillian Pegasus, its owner, wearing his formal tuxedo and holding a glass of wine over one hand, pondered.

"And after I beat that Yugi-boy…Cecilia will come back…" He said aloud, eyes widening with disbelief. He then spun around with his chair's wheels, not controlling his excitement. His dreams would come true at last, after so many years of loneliness and hard work.

But over the other side of the room, across the large table and many empty chairs around it, a door opened, with a man coming in, this one in the common fashion of every guard at Pegasus' control.

"Sir, it has been two hours now, and the reported three children are still fugitive," He reported with a grave voice. "What should we do with the waiting cruiser? It has been waiting for plenty of time, and its passengers are getting quite moody…"

"Ahh, why have those three broken my dear tournament's rules?" Maximillian said melancholically. "But I guess it's quite good, only three of the hundreds of duelists caused trouble…Anyway, do whatever you want with them, they're not my concern anymore."

"But sir, you are the host of this tournament, you can't possibly not care for those three's safety…" The man said.

"Yes, I guess you're right…" He said. "Very well then, have all security be alert of these three, and let the cruise go, we'll then send them personally."

The bodyguard reacted with surprise, how the owner felt about some fugitives wandering off in his island. "Sir, shouldn't we do…I don't know, _something_ to them for breaking the rules?"

"I said no," The sitting man's tone began to freeze, but then spoke with delightment. "Everything is in order after all, and Cecilia will be back soon enough…"

"Sorry sir, but I didn't quite get that last part…" The man repeated.

"Oh nothing," Pegasus waved his hand. "Dismissed."

Bowing, his sentry left the room, closing the door after him, leaving the excited multimillionaire alone.

-_Soon, Cecilia! Soon I'll beat that Yugi-boy, and everything will go just fine!_-

"I SAID STOP!" A panting pair of chasing men in black called out.

A little ahead, Luke, Roy and Angel were madly running, looking everywhere, as if something would pop out giving them a chance to escape: to their left, a huge rocky wall which couldn't be climbed, and to their right, the now useless forest to hide in now that they had eyes watching their every move.

"What now?" Luke said, with a tone altered with the wind blowing in his face.

"I don't know! Run until they can run no more?" Roy suggested, his face sweating.

"Just look at you!" Angel replied. "Nor you, nor Luke and nor I can maintain this pace for much longer, while they could run three laps around a football stadium without getting tired!"

"LOOK!" Luke pointed at his left, where the wall showed a mouth. "A cave! Maybe we can lose them there!"

The three then entered the hollow cavity, and found it darker than the night outside. "Heeey, maybe we CAN lose them he—Wait, GUYS! Where are you!" Roy's voice exclaimed.

"Quiet!" A girl's voice whispered in his ear. "We'll just crouch or do something, they don't any torchs, and then we'll—" But before Angel could do anything, they saw the two figures step into the entrance.

Roy desperately extended his arms, waiting to at least touch a wall, and then felt a cold stone emerging from the floor, besides it, the wall. Crouching between these two, he waited.

"Shit, I can't see a thing," A mature voice cursed.

"Don't worry, I'm calling for backup and a damn flashlinght, we've got them round," Another similar tone spoke out.

Roy gulped, knowing this journey was coming to an end. But suddenly a hand grabbed his arm. "DON'T EAT ME!"

"It's me, you nutcase! Follow me!" Luke's voice replied quickly, and the boy let himself be guided by the arm.

"C'mon! Over here!" The guards shouted at each other, trying to follow the eco of the running steps, but when one of the tried to give chase, he crashed against a wall with a hard sound.

"W-what was that?!" The other one called out, not daring to move, but walking slowly towards the tapping sound, which was now getting further and further.

Meanwhile, on the furthest side of the dark mouth, six feet were now slowing down after having running for what looked like them an hour. "I…I think we've lost them for now…" Angel's voice sighed, and near her, a fire lighted up.

"A GHO--!" Roy opened his mouth, but was shut by Luke's hand.

"For Jesus' sake, would you shut up?! You almost got us caught over there!" Luke said, looking at his friend who was vaguely illuminated by Angel's lit match which she held tightly in her hand.

"Anyway, thanks to the matches we have left from the fires we made, we now at least see our way…" She said.

"Yeah, but just how did you guys know this cave was so…so…HUGE?" He asked, controlling his tone not to sound too loud.

"Aww, simple surviving-in-the-wild rules, my dear friend," Angel tenderly patted her friend's red head. "By the eco of their voices, I realized how this cave was extended and not a simple dead end."

"So she found me, grabbed my arm, I grabbed yours, and by putting just a palm over the wall, you can just run along the dark cave without crashing into something," Luke continued.

"Oh suuuure, the camping boys mock me with their survival of the fittest explanation!" Roy crossed his arms.

"It's not MY fault you didn't pay attention in that camping our school had organized once," Luke chuckled.

"Hey…" Angel called, attracting the other's attention. "I see a light…"

And it was true: besides her dim match's glow which was now starting to fade away, there was a totally bright radiance coming from the end of the unseen path.

"W-what should we do?" Roy asked. "It may be a trap, some guards could be waiting for us there…"

"Let's just take a glimpse…" Luke replied, slowly walking towards the light, behind them the other two followed cautiously.

They had to put a hand over their face due to the shining, but once their eyes has gotten accustomed to it, they saw a curious room: it was almost occupated by an enormous dueling arena, and on the other side, two bald men just leaned against a dueling grid in front of them.

"Man, if it wasn't for those brats we'd be out of here…" One of the two spoke, wearing a Chinese style red dress.

"Yes, the only thing keeping us guarding this place is our fear," The other one sighed, this one with the same clothes, but a different color which was green.

"And now, Master Pegasus is not allowing us to leave until they are caught…" The red guy moaned, feeling the unluckiest person in the world.

"I wish they'd be just here, for they'd be taught…!" One's head at last was raised, revealing eyes with little pupils, big nose and a Japanese symbol on his forehead.

"That's what I think we'd ought—" The other one said, also raising a determined face with the same characteristics of the other one, only this one had a different symbol on his forehead.

"Hey, I hate to interrupt your fight of rhymes, but I would be grateful if you could let us pass," Luke said.

"W-who are you?!?" The green-dressed man exclaimed.

"B-brother! Those three! T-they must be the ones who have caused this, and if we now call them, we won't have anything else to do!" His brother grinned.

"AWW, c'mon! You have this whole arena to yourself, and you don't use it!" Roy protested. "Why don't you duel against us?"

"Duel with YOU? Sorry, but we don't do that with rookies," The bald man laughed at him.

"

"So what? We don't have to accept Actually, those two have complete duel gloves!" Angel replied, as both Luke and Roy raised their hand for the brothers to see the ten star chips around their wrist. your challenge!" One brother laughed, taking out a cell phone out of his pocket.

"Actually, brother, I am still a little upset by the outcome of our last duel…" The other one said with shame.

"Oh, you mean _that_ duel? Just forget about it, we'll go home and practive more!" The first one replied, beginning to dial.

"Brother! Please! What would our country say if we had lost to little children and didn't want to at least duel against another mound of children!"

"…Fine…But after that, we'll call the guards, alright?" The bald face sighed.

"Thank you, Para! I'll be sure to duel with all my might!" The one grinned.

"W-what just happened?" Luke asked.

"Oh nothing, just prepare to duel you two!" The red-suited man pointed at them.

"The _two_? I know this arena is huge, but you CAN'T duel like that!" Luke protested.

"Actually, you _can_! So prepare to duel against the mighty _Paradox Brothers_!"

Metaldix: Whoa! Our heroes dueling against the mighty Paradox brothers?

Neverclaw: 0.o Are they gonna even stand a few turns against them?!

Metaldix: I don't know, but I just hope so!

Neverclaw: Keep tuned, everyone! Oh, and we're sorry to say this, but we are going to be out all weekend, and only be back next Saturday, so don't alarm yourself if you don't see a chapter or something next week…

Metaldix: Farewell until then!


	25. Chapter 25

Metaldix: Chapter 25 ready!

Neverclaw: And you get ready for some double-action!

Disclaimer: Those two don't own Yugioh, but they own this super double-showdown!

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Chapter 25: Four Duelists, Two Teams, One Door

"Soo, let me get this straight," Roy said for the fifth time to everybody. "In this duel, Luke and I have to beat you brothers, and each one has their individual 2000 life points, right?"

"Yes, and don't forget you can use your partner's cards to your advantage!" Angel added.

"But if one of you lose, then the other one will be left on your own," The brother Para smiled evilly.

Once the rules were stated, each player went to their respective dueling grid at each corner of the arena. But besides having to trounce those eliminators hired by Pegasus, they would have to choose between two huge red doors which were right behind them, each one having the same Chinese symbols the brothers had on their foreheads.

"And how will the turns be?" Roy asked again.

"It will be one from each team: we'll let you go first, then I will go, your chest-nut friend will be third and Para last," Dox explained.

"Roy…I'm still not to sure about this…I mean, these guys must be the elite of the elite…" Luke muttered.

"Aww c'mon, don't tell me you're gonna throw the towel now," His friend complained. "You said it yourself, we MUST reach Pegasus castle!"

And after the inspirational comment, Luke merely nodded. –_Yes, I said that…But I didn't mention to have to duel to get there…_-

"Okaaay, I'll be summoning a face-down monster and a face-down card, that's all."

Two dark silhouettes appeared on his side of the field, one in a horizontal position, the other in a vertical position.

"So, it will be my turn, and I'll summon Monster Tamer (1800ATK/1600DEF) to end your illusion!" A fierce man with a confident smile appeared on the field, a whip in both hands.

"And then, a face-down card will be my conclusion," He finished.

"You certainly have a good solution," His brother complimented him.

"Oh, but it's nothing compared to your recent evolution," The other one answered.

"And what about your—"

"CRAP! CUT IT WOULD YOU!" Roy interrupted the rhymes. "That is SO annoying!"

"Hmph, ok, if it bothers you that much…" One of them said offended.

"We thought you were civilized people, now we won't treat you as such..."

"If you shut up, I guess that's okay…" Luke said, looking at the card he had just drawn…a bad one. "I…I will set a face-down monster and end my turn…"

-_Sheesh, Luke is really depressed…Maybe that duel he had against Roxanne dug a really deep hole in him…_- Angel watched him remorse, helplessly.

"Now, it will be my turn!" The last of the brothers, Para, drew a card, and laughed with disbelief when seeing it. "I just can't believe every duel we have, THIS card reaches my hand the very first turn!"

"Para, you don't mean…" His brother started grinning with bright eyes.

"Yes…That's right, I will now summon, _Labyrinth Wall_ (0ATK/3000DEF)!"

The ground then started shaking, and on the arena emerged a massive solid labyrinth, with such proportions that it covered the entire arena!

"H-hey! How can this be happening?" Roy exclaimed, looking as every monster on the field vanished into the riddle of walls, even the face-down ones.

"This is where the real game begins…" Dox chuckled.

"What do you mean?" Luke raised an eyebrow.

"You see, now that the Labyrinth has emerged, many rules have changed. To attack our life points, you'll have to make a monster cross to the exit just in front of us; but as we summoned it, if you don't have any monster on your side of the field, we go automatically to anywhere we want in the labyrinth, including your exit leading to your life points. And we will attack someone's life points, that is, if he doesn't have any monster on the whole field."

"And how do we cross this thing, may I ask?" Roy crossed his arms, preparing for a long explanation.

"As you know, each monster has its own star level," Para continued. "Like chess, you'll have to cross the maze in squares; and the maximum spaces you can walk in one turn depends on the card's level."

-_That means that summoning higher level monsters will make this faster…_- Luke thought.

"And, if your monster is destroyed in the labyrinth, the next monster you summon will be able to restart from the furthest square your monster reached."

"How you command your monster to move is completely up to you, and you can do it by simply touching the squares in that green panel you have to your left," Dox added, and both Luke and Roy noticed the mentioned panel which they had sworn they hadn't seen before. "And you can only move a monster only once per turn, of course, either before or after attacking."

"One last thing, you can't move while in defense position, so if you want to cross it you'll have to flip your monsters," Para smirked. "The Labyrinth will stay on the field, unless you summon a stronger monster than its defense and destroy it, and then everything will change to the previous field."

"But to tell you the truth, this is just a sample of the power we wield!" Dox laughed.

"WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT RHYMES, DAMMIT!" Roy yelled again. "Geez, they're really getting on my nerves, you know?…Ok, I will now flip my Tripwire Beast (1200ATK/1300DEF), and move four spaces into the labyrinth." And after touching four consecutive spaces, his green electricity-ridden beast slowly entered the maze.

"Ha, I see you are a very careless boy! With my Monster Tamer, I will just go to where your Tripwire Beast is and beat it to pieces!" Laughing maniacally, the man ran between the walls desperately, and in a blink of an eye he was right in front of the Tripwire Beast.

"No I'm not! And I'll show you this team's teamwork with a trap card! I'll activate Shift, re-directing your attack to Luke's face down monster!" He smiled, as Monster Tamer was forced to attack its new target, which turned out to be…Warrior Dai Grepher (1700ATK/1600DEF).

"HAHAH!" Brothers laughed in unison. "Is THAT your teamwork?"

"WHAT! Dude, why didn't you summon THAT in attack mode, you always do so! I thought you had a high defense monster!"

"Y-yeah? I see…Sorry…" Luke's chin fell.

"ARGH! Luke, don't you just stand there! DO something! That Roxanne girl may have beaten you, but it's not the end of the world!" After this, Roy's tone calmed down to a much serious one. "Just…Just try to go with the flow, like before, ok?"

Luke raised his head, looking at his partner's eyes, with a different expression this time, totally different from a depressed one. "O…Okay."

Then, he drew a card. "Paradox brothers, prepare for the worst! I will now use my Warrior Returning Alive, returning my Warrior Dai Grepher to my hand, and after that, I'll use the Polymerization card, to fuse it my the Spirit Ryu, forming my Ryu Senshi (2000ATK/1200DEF).."

The blurred shaped of the muscle-bound warrior and the ghostly dragon then merged, forming the muscular purple-armored combatant with his giant blade at hand. "Now, attack and destroy Monster Tamer!" And with one swift swing, the evil tamer fell to the ground defeated, reducing Dox's life points to 1800.

"Now THAT's the Luke I know!" Roy grinned.

"Hehe, thanks. I will move my Ryu Senshi six spaces, and end my turn." Luke said, as his monster advanced, passing the Tripwire Beast by two spaces.

"Hmph, that was a lucky move, that's all," Para said, drawing a card.

"Ooh…What do we have here? I will now summon my Dungeon Worm (1800ATK/1500DEF), in attack position, and place a face-down card," A huge, revolting worm appeared on the field, right besides its owner.

"EWWW! I keep saying it, just WHY do people have to have disgusting monsters in their decks?!?" Angel said.

"We don't know that girl…" Roy muttered, now drawing a card. He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Mmm…I'll move my Tripwire Beast another four spaces, and then change it to defense-position, that's all for now."

"And I will be summoning my Giga-Tech Wolf (1200ATK/1400DEF) in attack mode, and end my turn," Dox said.

"Crap, we can't attack them, but they can attack us…" Luke grumbled. "Well, I will advance six more spaces and end my turn."

"And so it will be my turn!" Para said. "With my Dungeon Worm, I will attack that Tripwire Beast!" His great worm then dug a hole right underneath itself, and reappeared just under the Tripwire Beast, devouring it whole with its huge mouth!

"I will end my turn now."

"Stop it with the boring plays and lame turn endings! I WANT ACTION!" Roy cried.

Noticing everyone's faces, Roy coughed. "Err…Yeah, so… Lucky my monster was in defense mode." Roy sighed. "Now, I summon a face-down monster where Ryu Senshi is, and then I'll end my turn."

On the same square as Luke's fighter, another shadowy card materialized.

"Now is the time where things get interesting!" Dox smirked, drawing a card. "As I now summon Cannon Soldier (1400ATK/1300DEF)! According to its effect, I can sacrifice a monster to inflict 500 points of damage to you, and I'll be sacrificing Para's Dungeon Worm for this!"

The Dungeon Worm instantly disappeared, and the blue-and-yellow machine that emerged fired the great cannon which was on its back, the bullet hitting Luke, reducing his life points to 1500.

"Strange, with that Dungeon Worm you could have been used for many other plans than just a sacrifice to inflict 500 points of damage, I mean, that move wasn't THAT great…" Angel commented.

"No, on the contrary," Luke replied. "After attacking, that Dungeon Worm had to stay on its place until Para's turn started again. And to tell you the truth, I was gonna move back and destroy it…"

"But do not think that was the end of my turn, as I'll use the Polymerization card, to fuse my brother's Giga Tech Wolf and my Cannon Soldier, giving birth to our incredible Labyrinth Tank (2400ATK/2400DEF)!"

The brothers' monsters then fused, forming a purple tank with many drills in its front part, and seemed to have yellow dots as eyes at its sides.

"With it, we'll destroy your Ryu Senshi!" He yelled, as its tank advanced through the labyrinth until it encountered its target, charging against it and devastating it to pieces.

Luke's life points then fell to 1100.

"Damn…" He said, drawing a card and adding it to his now-five card hand. Roy's life points were at the full 2000, just like Para's, and Dox had 1800. On the enormous field, he didn't have anything; Roy had a face-down monster where his Ryu Senshi used to be and six cards in his hand. On the other side, Para didn't have any monster on his side of the field, but a face-down card with five cards in his hand, while Dox had his Labyrinth Tank in attack mode, a face-down card, and three cards in his hand.

"Well, I will set a face-down card, and summon Gaia the Fierce Knight (2300ATK/2100DEF) where my last monster was, and advance seven spaces!"

His cavalier showed on the field, and galloped quietly to the distance.

"Well, with that monster on the field, Luke will no doubt finish the Labyrinth in a few turns!" Angel chuckled.

"Not if we prevent that, our Labyrinth Tank will be sure to destroy that warrior in its due time!" Para smirked. "Also, I have a new friend for you! I summon Jirai Gumo (2200ATK/100DEF)!"

At this, a ghastly, gigantic tarantula crept down from the dark ceiling, much to Angel's dismay.

"Next, I attack the red-haired boy's face-down monster with it!" He said, but then a holographic coin appeared right before his giant red spider attacked.

"Hey, what gives?" Luke asked.

"You see, even though my arachnid has decent attack points, I must flip a coin every time I want to attack," Para explained. "If I call it right, then it will attack, but if I call it wrong…Then my life points will be cut by half…Now, I will go with tails!"

The coin then flipped, jumping into the air and spinning.

"Please heads, please heads, please heads, please heads, please heads…" Angel crossed her fingers, and when the coin fell, it showed tails.  
"Oh yes! Mow Jirai Gumo, attack with your great Venom Webs!" The man yelled, as his insect shot out a sticky string which trapped the hidden monster…Or, did it?

"LOSER! You just attacked my Creator (2300ATK/3000DEF)!" Roy laughed madly, as his just-revealed colossus easily set itself free from the web, countering Jirai Gumo's attack and reducing Para's life points to 1200.

"Good one, Roy!" Luke smiled. "Best of all is, that now it's your turn, a fine chance to counterattack!"

"Correct, my friend!" Roy agreed. "So, I'll pass my Creator to attack mode, and I'll also discard one card from my hand to Special summon my Tripwire Beast in defense mode where Luke's Gaia is!"

And thanks to the Creator, the Tripwire Beast was resurrected, curling to a defensive position.

"Now, Creator, Divine Shock Eradicator against Jirai Gumo!" Roy yelled, and a thunder fell from the roof, zapping the spider to death, reducing Para's life points to 1100.

"Brother! Are you alright?" Dox gasped.

"Yes, however, it seems these two are playing with all their might…" Para gulped.

"Heh, then we shall do the same thing, right?" The first one replied.

"FOR SHIT'S NAME, STOP RHYMING!" Roy bellowed again.

"If you are so irate, then you'll be even more when my turn ends," Dox smirked.

"As I now attack your undefended Creator with my Tank Labyrinth!" He ordered, his Tank charging and destroying the Creator with its mighty drills, lowering Roy's life points to 1900.

"You could say they used Jirai Gumo as a decoy to lure your Creator into attack mode…" Luke said, starting his turn. "I'll advance another seven spaces, and end my turn…"

But as Para drew a card, he started to chuckle, until he then burst out laughing!

"Now what's so funny?" Roy said.

"Brother, the grand finale has just commenced…!" Para smiled.

"You don't mean…" Dox gasped.

"Yes…"

"Then hurry up and summon it!"

"But of course!!" Para nodded. "Now, behold the beginning of your end! I now summon, _Suijin_ (2500ATK/2400DEF)!!"

-----------------------------

Metaldix: And there you have it, folks!

Neverclaw: Our first double-duel has begun!

Metaldix: Who will win?

Neverclaw: Oh, and yeah, we decided to do this duel just like the program. Bear with us…

Metaldix: Besides, when will we have the chance to do something like THIS again? Better take advantage of this arc, where rules are made to be broken!

Neverclaw: By the way, guys, we'd like to know who your favorite 5 characters are…

Metaldix:…Along with the top 5 most hated!

Neverclaw: To find out who wins, keep tuned to the following chapters, and review of course!

Metaldix: Sorry people, confused Para's life points wth Dox' in an important move.


	26. Chapter 26

Metaldix: It's time for more double duel!

Neverclaw: Uh-huh, but things are getting worse with that Suijin in play…

Metaldix: Who knows what could possibly happen with that thing in play?!

Neverclaw: COUGHCOUGHREADEPISODEGUIDESCOUGHCOUGH.

Metaldix: Well, onto the chapter now!

Disclaimer: Yugioh! is not owned by us, but those two kick ass!

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Chapter 26: Four Duelists, Two teams, One door (Part Two)

Luke frowned. "Uhh…Is that your AWWWWWESOME weapon?"

He couldn't believe how Para had just summoned a pitch-black coffin with blue trim.

"Ohh yes…" Para agreed. "Just wait and see…"

"Dude, we should just get rid of them before this can get any worse…" Roy shrugged, drawing a card.

As the four-duelist round started again, Roy possessed 1900 life points, seven cards in his hand now, and Tripwire Beast in defense mode. Luke held four cards in his hand, 1100 life points, and Gaia the Fierce Knight in attack mode with a face-down card.

On the other team, Dox had three cards in his hand. He had 1000 life points, and Labyrinth Tank in attack mode. Para didn't have any monsters besides his coffin named Suijin, and was relaxed with his 2000 life points and six cards in his hand, plus, a face-down.

"Okay, time to pull off something with this hand!" Roy said. "I'll be equipping Tripwire Beast with the Twin Swords of Flashing Light-Tryce, swords which will decrease its attack by 500 and I will have to discard one card from my hand also, but in exchange Tripwire Beast can attack twice."

Two swords fell from the sky, falling right besides Roy's monster, which grabbed the weapons with its…mouth.

"What use is there for a monster with 700 attack points to attack twice, anyway?" Dox shrugged.

"Make us laugh, I dare say," Para rhymed.

"I said NO rhymes!" Roy said. "And it can be useful to now summon Guardian Tryce (1900ATK/1700DEF)!" His blue-skinned thunder monster appeared on the field, ready to zap any being unlucky enough to pass by.

"Then, I'll set down a face-down card, and end my turn."

"And so, mine will begin!" Dox said.

"Yeah, but not before I activate the just set trap, Thunder of Ruler!" Roy added. "It could only be activated during your standby phase, and now you shall skip your battle phase!"

Dox grumbled, knowing how his opportunity to destroy a monster with his Labyrinth tank had been negated. "Fine…I end my turn."

"Ha, you really used that trap in a good time!" Luke grinned, drawing a card. "And I think I will be using the magic card Double Spell, to discard one spell card from my hand to be able to use one of my opponent's which has to be in the Graveyard."

"And which will you be choosing?" Para asked.

"Poooolymerization! With this, I'll be able to fuse Gaia the Fierce Knight with Curse of Dragon (2000ATK/1000DEF), forming Gaia the Dragon Knight (2600ATK/2100DEF)!"

Both monsters disappeared in a vortex, and then their evolved form appeared in all its glory, right besides Labyrinth Tank.

"Uh-oh…" Dox gulped.

"And as you didn't have the chance to move the Labyrinth Tank since it destroyed the Creator, it can be Special summoned right besides it! Go, Gaia, Dragon Spear Attack!"

It didn't take long for the mighty lance of the knight to somehow pierce the solid steel of the tank, but nevertheless it was destroyed, and this reduced Dox' life points to 800.

"After that, I will end my—"

"But not before _I_ activate this ­_long­_ set trap, Labyrinth of Nightmare!" Para smirked, as the trap made each corner of the maze to look darker and gloomier.

"HEY! That was MY line!" Roy­­­­­­­­­­ protested.

"Spooky…" Angel gazed at the new labyrinth, startled.

"With this, when each one of us ends his or her turn, his or her respective monsters will be forced to change positions," Para explained.

"Uhh…Why do you say 'her'? Angel's not dueling, ya know…" Roy muttered.

"I said that because of you, little princess."

"OKAY, THAT'S IT! It was enough with those annoying rhymes, but now YOU have crossed the line!" Roy said, making a step on the arena and clenching his fist.

"Roy, calm down…" Luke interrupted. "This is just a duel; let's just win this, and then we can get outta here."

"Yeah, but how do I know these people won't trick us!" Roy argued. "They could have secretly called the security and are biding their time, waiting for them to come!"

"You're over reacting, Roy! We were present and saw every move they made, they couldn't have done that!" Angel said, accustomed to these embarrassing situations.

"B-but what if they have those little red buttons below their duel grid to call the cops like in the banks!" Roy exclaimed, waving hands to express his ideas. "I KNOW! Those bald two have _TELEKINESIS_! You just CAN'T see people wearing those clothes on the street, they MUST have some kind of power!"

"God…" Luke ran a hand through his face. "Just try to ignore him and make your turn…"

"…Yes…" A flabbergasted Para slowly nodded. "Now that your Gaia the Dragon Knight is in defense mode, I will summon Mikazukinoyaiba (2200ATK/2350DEF)!"

And what seemed a walking dragon warrior appeared on the field, wielding a cruel scimitar. "Well, this clearly tells me these guys are some Chinese freaks…" Roy shrugged shoulders.

"Warrior of the Moon, attack his Gaia the Dragon Knight with your Crescent Moon Attack!" Luke could have sworn to see a holographic moon behind the monster, but then turned to see his monster, who had by then vanished in the thin air.

"H-how did it do THAT!" Luke gulped.

"It won't matter now, boy, the end will come soon…" Para smiled. "And before I end my turn I'll set this face-down card, with my monster passing to defense mode. How convenient…"

As he spoke, the dragon kneeled to a defensive stand because of the Labyrinth of Nightmare.

"Well, at least my turn starts," Roy said. "And the only thing I'll do is to move with Tryce five spaces, and then change it to defense position," He said.

"But Tryce has lower defense points!" Angel crossed arms. "Sheesh, I just can't understa—" But then she saw, how his monster turned to attack mode because of the continuous trap card.

"Ohh, now I get it…" Angel smiled.

"My turn!" Dox said, swiftly drawing a card. "Well, well, well! It seems I get to summon _Kazejin_ (2400ATK/2200DEF)!!"

And between the two Chinese brother's laughs, another coffin with equal proportions of Suijin's appeared, this time with green decorations.

"I don't get it…Those things have really good attack points! Why don't they attack, or even move?!" Angel said, frustrated.

"I don't know…But what I do know is that I just want to finish them off before their rhymes get any worse…" Roy flinched with future thought filled with rhymes.

"I guess it will be my turn if you're not going to do anything else, then…" Luke said drawing a card, four in total. "And I'll use the Warrior Returning Alive, to bring back from the Graveyard Gaia, the Fierce Knight, to then summon him!"

His knight then appeared once again, horse neighing, right besides Roy's guardian.

"And I'll move another seven spaces!" He said, knight galloping to its new destiny.

"Hey, look! Luke's almost completed the labyrinth!" Angel exclaimed, seeing how the knight was a few squares before exiting the maze!

"ALRIGHT! I was getting pretty annoyed with this Labyrinth thing!" Roy grinned.

"Brother, we MUST assemble it as soon as possible now…" Para glanced at his sibling.

"Yes…" Dox nodded, preparing to draw…

"Whatever you guys were talking about, I just wanna say I DON'T want you to draw it…" Luke commented.

And to his surprise, he saw how Dox' head almost fell off in disappointment. "Sorry brother, I wasn't able to draw it…But I drew THIS!" He suddenly grinned with his head rising, as he activated a magic card.

"I activate, Magical Labyrinth! Equipping this to the Labyrinth, I can offer this card along with the Labyrinth Wall, to special summon from my deck, Wall Shadow (1600ATK/3000DEF)!"

The maze didn't move one inch, but Angel then noticed how in a small corner of it emerged a green ghoul, with ant-like eyes and sharp claws as arms.

"And with it, I will attack and destroy that Tripwire Beast!" He said, as his monster disappeared and reappeared from the wall right besides the defending beast, which was torn apart by the deadly limbs.

"Ok, fine. Now that that thing is in attack mode, I can simply atta--" Roy was about to say, but then he noticed how the ghoul disappeared, the whole labyrinth passing to defense mode…Because of Labyrinth of Nightmare.

"NOW I understand the purpose of that trap card…" Angel reacted. "With it, Shadow Wall can attack and then pass to defense mode easily, meaning that…"

"That we won't be able to summon monsters with stats less than 1600, or else that ghoul will destroy it…" Luke continued.

"Anyway, my turn…" Roy said, drawing a card. "And I'll summon a face-down monster besides Luke's Gaia…End of my turn."

Para then drew a card, and his eyes widened when he saw it.

"B-brother…!"

"You got it?!"

"Oh yes…Prepare yourselves, you two, to experience the end's welcome! I will now summon, the great _Sanga of the Thunder _(2600ATK/2200DEF)!"

With a sparky entrance, a third coffin appeared, yellow adorns covering it.

"Now, all of the tributes are set!" Para said anxiously.

"What FOR?!" Angel demanded…anxiously.

"FOR THIS!" Dox yelled, more anxious than ever.

"I sacrifice all three of these coffins, to Special Summon from my hand the monster I've been holding in my hand since the start of this duel, the _Gate Guardian _(3750ATK/3400DEF)!"

All three coffins then started trembling, until they were at last opened by invisible hands, but what emerged from the tiny boxes, were giant demons, each one colored with their previous coffin adorns.

But that was not all, as the three of them started to merge together, Suijin being the legs and part of the waist with its terrifying mouth open, the head, part of the boy and arms were composed by Sanga, colossal fists disproportioned with the head. And between these two, the green Kazejin held them together. Each part of the body had its own Chinese symbol.

"…You know what this means, right?" Roy peeked at Luke.

"We're doomed, I know…There's no need for you to start yelling like before again…"

"Actually, I was going to say that that monster proved they were Chinese."

"Oh…Right."

"And with THIS colossus, I could finish both of you if it could attack twice…" Dox grinned, and then sneered evilly at Luke. "But, I think I will finish that boy first, after all, he destroyed my Labyrinth Tank…"

"LUKE! If that thing attacks your Gaia, you're done for!" Angel yelled.

"Gate Guardian, attack with your Tidal Wave!" The yell was herd clearly, as the mighty foe called upon the biggest tsunami Luke had ever seen.

"I DON'T THINK SO, BALDIE!" Roy exclaimed. "I activate MY trap card, Waboku! With this, there won't be any damage taken to us this turn!"

"Even so, that doesn't change that knight's outcome!" Dox laughed, as his monster completely finished off the cavalier.

"As my friend said, I DON'T THINK SO!" Luke countered. "It's time for MY trap card to be activated! Rope of Life! By discarding every card in my hand, I can return my just destroyed monster from the Graveyard, only this time with an 800 attack boost!"

A black hole appeared right in front him over the floor, and from it, a thrashed Gaia came climbing a rope……With his horse along, of course, only this time this duo had 3100 attack points.

"Anyway, what can that change?" Para shrugged.

"We'll see about that in my next turn!" Luke said, swiftly drawing a card. "And the card is…Pot of Greed?" He mumbled, amazed and at the same time afraid of the card he had just drawn.

"Ok dude, calm down…And draw two more cards," Roy slowly said.

"You can do it…" Angel slowly nodded in a convincing way.

"No, you cannot" Para jumped in the conversation.

"You…uhh…MAGGOT!" Dox grinned.

"STOP THE RHYMING!" Roy yelled.

"ROY! This is NOT the time for that!" Angel scolded.

-_Ok, deck...This is it...Just let me draw TWO goddamn cards which can be of use...Please..._- Luke gulped hard, and grabbed the first card over the top of his deck.

–_This…THIS IS ABSOLUTELY USELESS! It only works for dragons...Now, the second draw…- _Closing his eyes hard, he drew.

Slowly, he looked at the only card in his hand.

"I…I…AM _NOT_ GIVING UP!" He yelled. "Now, I will be equipping Gaia the Fierce Knight with Dragonic Attack!"

Inexplicably, the warrior and his horse then started to have dragon features, until everyone could see a dragonic Gaia mounted on a winged horse!

"A…unicorn?" Angel blinked.

"This equip card could only be equipped to a warrior-type monster, who will now turn into a dragon-type monster, and now its attack and defense will be boosted by 500 attack points!" He said, as his monster attack and defense grew to 3600 and 2600 each.

"HOLY CRAPOLA! Those attack points are HUGE!" Roy almost jumped with disbelief.

"But they're still no match for the super Gate Guardian!" Dox burst out laughing.

"Oh yeah? And what if I equip him with Dragon Treasure, increasing his attack points to a further 3800?" He asked.

"W-WHAT?!" Para slammed his duel grid.

"OH YEAH!" Luke affirmed. "Victory is ours! Gaia, attack Para with Dragonic Sonic Spear!" He yelled, as his knight and horse galloped seven more spaces, exiting the labyrinth, preparing to charge with the spear.

"Not so fast, kid! I will activate the trap card, _Sakuretsu Armor_!" Para suddenly exclaimed at the last moment. "With this, the attacking monster will be DEVASTATED!"

A MASSIVE armor then covered Gate Guardian, giving it enough strength to counter the dragon warrior's attack, and grabbing it with its hand, he destroyed the monster with a simple clench.

"NO!" Angel yelled.

"YES!" Dox grinned.

"HELL NO!" Roy exclaimed.

"HELL YES!" Para countered.

"N-no…" Luke muttered, with no cards in his field, and no cards in his hand.

"MY TURN!" Dox said quickly, not even taking care to look at the card he had just drawn. "SHADOW WALL, ATTACK!"

-----------------------------

Metaldix: DUN DUUUN DUUUUUUN!

Neverclaw: Our heroes' last hope is lost!

Metaldix: How will this duel move on?!

Neverclaw: Only one way to find out, keeping tuned for the next week's probable update!

Metaldix: Oh, and sorry for the time this chapter took, we just needed TOO many episode guides for this…


	27. Chapter 27

Metaldix: Well, the third part of this double duel is about to begin!

Neverclaw: Who will win? The Paradox brothers? Luke and Roy? Bets? Anyone?

Metaldix: Well, let's see if we can finish this chapter!

Disclaimer: clears throat Yugioh is not owned by Metaldix and Neverclaw, and I'll go cut the….MAW! . COUGHBADRHYMECOUGH

Chapter 27: Two Duelists, Two opponents, One door (Part Three)

"WALL SHADOW, ATTACK!" Dox yelled, as his green ghoul appeared over the wall nearest to Luke, and stretched its glutinous body until it was right besides him, using its scythes for the job.

"Not again…" Angel's jaw fell upon seeing Luke's life points fall to 0 for the second time.

"Luke…buddy?" Roy gazed upon his friend, whose head was looking straight below.

"Roy…" Luke muttered. "Just…Just win this duel for me…Please."

"Uhh, y-yeah. Right." Roy nodded, and without further ado, his concentration was back on the game.

"Good job, Dox!" The man cheered.

"It was nothing, brother," Dox chuckled. "Now, we only have to take care of HIM," A signaling finger pointing at Roy, who had suddenly enraged.

"You said he was…_nothing_?" Roy slowly asked. "NOTHING?!"

"We finished him with ease, that's for sure," Para grinned.

"Oh yeah? Then WHO made you sweat like mad with that boosted Gaia, eh? EH! And WHO destroyed that Labyrinth Tank? EHHHH!" He said, his tone rising, until it reached a skyscraper level. "_I swear I'm going to finish YOU on the next turn!" _ He gave the signaling finger back at Dox.

"Good joke my friend! And how are you going to that? Between your turns, we will have one each! You will have to have a double defense now!" Para shrugged, as if it was an everyday thing, a dual assault.

"And speaking of defense, my Wall Shadow will pass to that position because of your trap card, bro," Dox grinned, as his monster disappeared within the maze.

"We'll see about that." Roy said, drawing his seventh card again. He had his Guardian Tryce in attack mode, and possessed 1900 life points. Dox was below with 1100 life points, but had three cards in his hand, and was the owner of Wall Shadow, obviously in defense mode. Para was in the lead, with 2000 life points, five cards in his hand, the powerful Gate Guardian and Mikazukinoyaiba in defense mode, because of his active trap card Labyrinth of Nightmare.

"Luke completed the labyrinth." Roy frowned, looking at his hand.

"You're a smart one, child, let me tell you that," Dox said, his comment full of irony.

"That means I can now summon my monster anywhere I want."

"Glad you're update with the news, m'boy," Para chuckled, containing laugh.

"Ok, then…I'll start with Stop Defense."

"WHAT!" Dox changed mood instantly, watching as his Wall Shadow appeared in the northwest section of the labyrinth in attack mode.

"And then, I will be discarding my Thunder Dragon (1600ATK/1500DEF) from my hand to draw two more of them from my deck," Roy's serious face spoke, as he mechanically drew the mentioned cards to his hand, now having a total of eight cards in his hand.

"T-this means…" Angel's eyes started getting bigger and bigger.

"That combo…" Luke's attention was then drawn to the duel, expecting to see some action in the following moves.

"And now, I will be able to use them as fusion material monsters along with my Polymerization card to create a powerful fusion enough to wipe you bald creep from this game! Come out, _Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon _(2800ATK/2100DEF)!" He yelled frantically all of a sudden, as his two electric serpent dragons merged together to form the twin-mouthed and horned dragon, who appeared right besides the green ghoul.

"But do NOT think I'm only to cause damage to your brother, Dox!" He then turned to his immobilized opponent. "Since you also took part in Luke's downfall!"

"W-what are you going to do??"

"I'm going to use this magic card, _Double Attack_! As you may already know, it will let my monster attack twice if I discard a Monster Card whose star level is higher than the selected monster, and I'll be using Moisture Creature (2800ATK/2900DEF), who has a level of nine stars, while my fusion has seven."

"B-brother! Don't you have anything we can use to save ourselves right now?!" Dox asked madly.

"You fool! Don't you see I do not have any trap cards, we'll just have to suffer that boy and his…crowd!"

"Now…Crowd…If you intended for THAT to be a rhyme, then you must be shitting your pants," Roy said. "And if I were you, I would not rhyme in this situation…Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon, attack that Wall Shadow with your TWIN LIGHTNING!" He yelled, as his monster invoked the power of lightning to fall upon its target, who was destroyed in million people.

"NOOOOOO!" Dox shouted in despair, as his life points were reduced to 0.

"OH NOES! I'm too far away from that Yliufghdlug monster! What AM I gonna DO? Oh, THAT'S RIGHT! YOUR LABYRINTH WAS _PWNED_!" Roy acted melodramatically as the labyrinth fell to rubble now that Wall Shadow had been destroyed., ending up like a normal arena.

"NOW things are looking good!" Angel clapped, as she let herself enjoy the view: Roy's monster by his side, Para's monsters and trap cards on his side.

"Roy! You just made an AWESOME move!" Luke couldn't believe wat he was seeing, the very possessor of the Gate Guardian trembling. Was this really the same duelist from the beginning?

"And as I used the Double Attack, I can now send your Yyiyfdbksu monster packing!" Roy continued talking with his broad grin, as his monster let a lightning bolt strike against Mikazukinoyaiba, not leaving any clue of its previous existence.

"Oh, and OF COURSE, as we all know my monster will pass to defense mode because of your Labyrinth of Nightmare…Even though there IS no labyrinth, of course!" Roy exploded laughing, as his monster curled up in a defensive way.

"Para, you must punish that kid for what he just did!" Dox said disgusted.

"Yes, but don't forget I am still in the lead," Para nodded.

"Ohhh, you guys shouldn't be making rhymes, as I have more from where that came from!" Roy's grin didn't fade.

"Grrr! I will pass my Gate Guardian to attack mode, and attack your monster!" Para shook his head, wanting his own humiliation to end, and to bring his opponent his just desserts.

"Remember my face-down card, Para?" Roy raised an eyebrow. "Well, it was the quick spell card, De-Fusion! With this, I'll send back my Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon to its fusion deck, and bring the fusion material monsters I used to form it from my Graveyard, and as you wanted to attack the Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon, your attack was just negated," Roy bowed in an educated way, but in some way mocking Para. But then the Labyrinth of Nightmare affected the field, turning the Gate Guardian to defense mode.

"Why you little…" He grumbled. "Fine, I'll end my turn."

"And so, mine will begin!" Roy said. "That Labyrinth of Nightmare is starting to annoy me, so I'll use the Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy that trap card!" He said, as a small tornado vanished the trap card from the field. "And then I'll be summoning and setting one card face-down…Your turn."

"You don't sound so cocky now, child!" Para laughed. "I will set a face-down card, and attack your left Thunder Dragon with my Gate Guardian! Roaring Thunder!" He yelled, as the Sanga-part of the monster agitate its arms, summoning a giant thunder which was about to fall over the serpent dragon when…

"Draining Shield!" Roy countered. "This trap will negate your attack AND absorb your monster's attack points into my Life Points!"

"WHAT?!?" The opponent yelled, seeing how a small shield absorbed the lighting, increasing Roy's life points to 5650.

"WHOA!" Luke couldn't help but express himself with shock.

"Roy…Since when have you become THAT good…?"

"Oh stop it," Roy rubbed his head. "I just activated a single trap card…"

"Cut the compliments, you two!" Dox exclaimed, hot-tempered. "It's your turn, and make it quick!"

"Okaaay," Roy raised his hands like a caught criminal with a flabbergasted face; and drew the only card in his hand.

–_Uhh…Not a useful card…_-

"You wanted it quick, right? 'Kay, I'll end my turn."

The remaining brother then drew card, smiling upon it. "Now, it's time to REALLY inflict some damage to you!" Para said. "I will activate the trap card Meteorain! With this, during this turn every monster of mine which has a higher attack point than a defense monster of yours, will inflict the difference as Battle damage!"

"Craaaaaap…" Roy gulped.

"But that's not all!" The Chinese man continued. "I will also activate the magic card Riryoku, which will let me choose a monster of your this turn, and its attack will be halved; that half added as attack points to my monster." He paused, his face contorted into a malevolent smirk. "And I choose your Thunder Dragon!" The selected monster's attack then fell to 750, and the Gate Guardian's attack rose to 4500.

"CRAAAAAAAAP!" Roy yelled.

"Go, Gate Guardian, attack his _face-down monster_ with your Swirling Tornado!" He yelled, as his monster made circles with its arms, provoking the air to twist and swirl, creating a massive tornado which slowly advanced towards the unknown monster.

"W-what?!" Roy blinked. "Face-down monster? You don't even know what it is! How can you possibly guess if it has a high defense or a low one?"

"That is very easy, my friend," Dox said. "Every monster you have played besides that Tripwire Beast had an effect, so why not that face-down monster? Most of them are activated when flipping face-up, and always have a low defense…Of course, that Creator monster is a rare exception…"

"Interesting…" Luke's eyes narrowed, mentally writing down the last comment.

The tornado eventually reached the monster, which turned out to be the Electric Lizard (850ATK/800DEF), which was destroyed in million pieces, when Roy's life points reduced abruptly to 2050.

"Damn, the only thing that remains from that last Draining Shield is a 50-life-point boost…" Roy sighed. "Do you end your turn?"

"Yes."

"GUESS!" Para's brother jumped. "Sorry, couldn't contain that one…"

"Now YOU make no-sense rhymes? Shit, I must end this duel quickly before it gets worse…" Roy sweat-dropped, and then drew a card.

–_HEY! YOU can come in handy! Too bad I sent one of your copies to the Graveyard, and the other one is still in the deck…Guess I'll have to draw it too and special summon the other one, and with some other cards I'll…Nah, too complicated…C'MON, THINK!_-

Roy was starting to hit his own face, expecting for something to come out, when he just gave up and ended his turn.

"And now, it's time to attack once—"He was about to say, but Para noticed how his Gate Guardian wouldn't budge.

"Sorry, but when you attacked my Electric Lizard, you just negated your opportunity to attack again the following turn, according to its effect," Roy explained.

"It does not matter…" Dox grumped. "You're just delaying your fate…"

"As if…" Roy muttered, drawing his hand's third card. He had 2050 life points, and on the field there he had two Thunder dragons in defense mode. Para had 1900 life points, but the strongest monster ever seen like Gate Guardian in attack mode, and five cards in his hands.

-_DOUBLE HEY! THIS wasn't what I was expecting, but it just MAY be of use…_- Roy smiled, placing a face-down card. "Your turn."

"Gate Guardian, attack his Thunder Dragon with your Elemental Storm!" He said, as his monster fired with everything it had: thunder, water and wind at the poor serpent dragon, who was wiped out immediately.

"My turn!" Roy said, drawing a card. "Shit…Nothing good, your turn…."

"…Which I'll use to attack your last Thunder Dragon!" Para said, as his monster obliterated Roy's last defense.

"Next turn, boy, you are going DOWN!" Dox made a short but loud laugh at the red-haired boy.

"No he isn't!" Angel protested. "…Right Roy?"

"Yeah…" Roy gulped, looking down at his deck.

–_Deck…Gimme something good, please…I must cheer up Luke somehow, what would he think if I lost too…? C'mon, I MUST get something good…_- He said to himself, and slowly he drew……

"Pot of Greed."

"ARGH! These kids have a tremendous luck!" Dox rubbed his bald head in frustration.

"HELL YEAH!" Roy grinned, looking at his two new cards.

–_And what better cards to show my pals a true victory…!_-

"Now, I'll be using the magic card Monster Reborn, to bring back a monster I sacrificed because of the Twin Swords of Flashing Light-Tryce I used a while ago, and summon Batteryman AA(0ATK/0DEF) in attack mode!"

He said, as his little batteryman appeared on the field, and its attack then rose to 1000.

"HA! Even though I don't know WHY that thing's attack rose to 1000, I must that that monster has a _long_ way to defeat my Gate Guardian!" Para laughed out loud, cleaning a tear from his left cheek.

"Oh yeah? Well, let me tell ya, that was just the beginning of my move!"

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see in the following seconds!" Angel commented with a buoyant smile, knowing what would happen next.

"I will now activate the quick-spell magic card, Inferno Reckless Summon! It could only be activated when a monster of 1500 attack or less was special summoned, and that when you had at least one monster on your side of the field."

"I…I had never seen that card before…" Luke blinked.

"Now, I will be able to Special summon from my hand, deck or Graveyard two other copies of it and special summon them in face-up attack position, you also have to do the same thing," Roy said, gulping hard.

"Okaaaay, it's better for me, as I DO have another copy of Gate Guardian in my deck…" Para said, as an identical titan from the one besides it appeared in attack mode.

"Roy, you couldn't handle one…You sure you can with two…?" Angel asked.

"Actually, no, but I'll try," Roy admitted.

–_It's my only chance…_-

"And as for me, I'll be Special summoning one Batteryman AA from my hand and from my deck," He said, as the other two appeared, his points rising to 3000 each.

"HEY! Now WHAT is that!" Dox yelled.

"You see, my Batteryman AA gain a 1000 attack or defense points boost, depending on how many of them are on the field, and as there are three now…"

"I see, but you still don't have enough for my Gate Guardian_s_," Para smirked.

"Really?" Roy smiled. "Then what if I equip my Batteryman AA with the magic card, United we Stand!?" He yelled, as his selected monster's attack rose to an unbelievable 5400!

"WHAT IS THAT?!?" Both brothers yelled at once.

"_That_'s a card which symbolizes hope, a kind of faith that can triumph even in the toughest of times," Roy said, looking back at his friends now. "And that I'm willing to use to avenge a particular person…"

"Roy…" Luke muttered.

"Its effect explains how the equipped monster's attack will rise by 800 for each face-up monster on my side of the field, giving my Batteryman AA the enough strength to finish your Gate Guardian, so GO, BATTERYMAN AA, ATTACK WITH YOUR _DISCHARGE_!" He yelled, as his monster advanced through the arena faster than a lightning, jumping right in front of the left Gate Guardian, and delivered a final blow of electricity, which made the colossus fall flat to the ground, reducing Para's life points to 650.

"BROTHER!" Dox yelled, wanting to check his sibling after the zapping impact, but was stopped by the very same brother he was trying to help.

"Don't worry…" He chuckled. "This duel is over, as I still have a Gate Guardian…"

"W-what do you mean? Roy's monster is WAAAY stronger!" Angel exclaimed.

"He's right…" Luke slowly nodded. "What he meant was that in his turn he'll attack a weaker Batteryman AA, reducing the strongest' attack by 1800…"

"And that wouldn't be enough to finish the duel…" Roy frowned, but then looked at his opponent with a straight face. "But I still have two cards in my hand."

"And?"

"And that one of those is _THUNDER CRASH_! With this card, I'll sacrifice every monster on my side of the field to inflict 300 points of dame for each monster destroyed!"

"THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE!" Dox yelled.

"OH YES IT IS!" Roy countered, as his monster started exploding one by one.

"This one's for calling me a princess…This one other is for those AWFUL rhymes…And the last one, for _LUKE_!" He said, as the explosion made impact right on Para's face, who yelled in disbilief.

"We were…Defeated…?" Dox blinked twice, to confirm his current situation.

"YES!" Angel jumped. "YOU DID IT, ROY!"

"I guess so…" Roy at last sighed with satisfaction.

"I-I lost…" Para couldn't believe what had just happened the last seconds. "With TWO Gate Guardians…!"

"So, Luke…Waddya think of my duel?" Roy made his best smile, exiting the arena and walking up to him.

Luke then looked at him grimly with a frosty face. "If you are SO good at dueling, then do it by yourself. I'm not dueling anymore."

----------------------------------

Neverclaw: WELL! This duel is at last finished!

Metaldix: And if I'm allowed to, I dare say I'm quite fond of these last chapters, which I think were the best ones ever written by us until now…

Neverclaw: OH RLY? Is that after you said that LUKE WON'T BE DUELING ANYMORE?!?!

Metaldix: 0.o I was talking only about the duel…

Neverclaw: Whatever, reviewers, just leave your reviews, and feel free to comment about recent events!

Metaldix: And now that I've finished this evil chappie, at LAST, I'LL GET FREE TIME FOR FINAL FANTASY!

Neverclaw: NEVER! YOU MUST KEEP WRITING! cracks whip


	28. Chapter 28

Metaldix: This is chapter 28, people.

Neverclaw: And I am glad that we are posting this thingy!

Metaldix: So let's get onto it and finish it!

Disclaimer: As always, they do not own Yugioh, you know the routine…

----------------------------

Chapter 28: On the other side…

The sun was starting to rise over the blue seas, illuminating the waters as it rose, while the clouds took a more orange color. The sky became brighter and brighter every time as the golden balloon ascended.

And the Industrial Illusion's cruiser was just arriving at the port while its passengers slowly woke up; although some others just wanted to stay in bed the whole evening. Examples of the first ones were people like Kari Oyamada, who was now on deck looking at the beautiful landscape.

-_We finally arrived…_- She smiled, but then it fade away with another thought. –_Only what to do now? Big brother and I barely survived in the streets, and entered this cruiser stealing the gloves and stars of some other two, hoping to win some money…_-

What _could_ they do, anyway? She had once found an orphanage and suggested her big brother Crusher to ask for hospitality there, but he had refused. He wouldn't accept to have some help from others.

He had always been like that, not trusting anybody but himself and his little sister, thinking strangers were the guilty for their current state, therefore reasoning to steal from bad guys.

She was trying to keep up with these thoughts, when a sudden yell from not too far away almost shook her down.

"Avenger!"

_Avenger?_ Why was that orange-haired boy shouting that so many times? It was as if he was looking for someone…

After the tenth time the yell was heard, Kari had to almost roll over to avoid the incoming Blueberry bird flew past, flapping its wings hard to land safely over the shoulder of the spiky boy, landing with its claws over his leather jacket.

"Whoops, sorry about that!" The boy panicked, approaching the girl to check she's alright.

"D-did you just _call_ that bird Avenger?" She seemed more confused than injured.

"Yeah, I can't imagine why people find it hard to see someone master a bird named like that, but I guess it's just—" He was about to continue, but received an aerial kick of a tall woman, probably around her twenties, who landed on the wooden deck safely after the surprise attack. She then rose, showing her angered face and swinging her turquoise hair in the process.

"WHY THE HELL WERE YOU SHOUTING LIKE THAT, YOU FREAK!" She said, whacking his head with her fist.

"I'm sorry! But I just HAD to do it, Avenger got away chasing some seagulls and—"

"Avenger?"

"IT'S MY DAMN BIRD!" He yelled frustrated, emphasizing with his hands the blueberry bird at his side.

"Pffft, amateurs…" Kari sighed, turning back to see the flabbergasting scenery beyond the ship.

"_Amateurs_?" The other two said with one voice, starting to tremble with fury. "_I_ would probably be in the very finals if it wasn't for that Roy--" But after THIS comment they were now really shocked.

"R-Roy? Roy Barker?" The orange-haired guy repeated, a smile forming in his lips. "He defeated you too?"

"Y-yeah…And he was accompanied by that Angel girl and Luke…"

"Luke?!" Kair reacted. "You don't mean Luke Blake, right? _He_ defeated me!"

"And me." A voice said, which attracted everyone's attention. A human wall was approaching, with his darkened skin and frost blue eyes shining. "What's the matter, sis? Are those two bothering you?" He addressed Kari.

"It's nothing bro…" She waved hands to avoid possible fights. "I just got informed that these guys were defeated by that red-haired nut who accompanied Luke Blake."

"Is that so…" He narrowed eyes, nodding knowingly.

"Uh…I'm Lance Skywalker, nice to meet you," Lance spoke up to everyone's surprise, extending a hand for someone to shake it.

"Marina Steamer," She smiled, shaking the teenagers hand with a sincere smile.

"I'm Kari and he's Crusher, my big brother," Kari raised a hand cheerfully, and then addressed her elder brother while pointing at him.

Everyone then glared once again at Lance with the same thoughts in mind. –_Orange hair…Has a bird as mascot…Skywalker…_-

But Lance had his own thoughts too with a sweat-drop falling down, specially towards the two siblings. –_They don't resemble a thing…That big black guy with that cute little girl…_-

"…Any surnames?" Marina asked finally, releasing her doubt which had been trying to escape from her mouth like a wild animal in a cage.

"No." Crusher said, cold as his eyes.

"Ohh, sorry…" Marina gulped, mentally apologizing as she imagined their current situation.

The sudden gloomy atmosphere was then cut off from the surprising masses of people which had slowly gathered around them, all looking how they were approaching the port.

------------------------------

The ship then positioned itself right besides the firm land, which was over crowded with all kinds of people: all waiting with anxiety the passengers aboard. Some people even yelled names, leaning forward an ear to receive an answer. Like Margaret Blake.

She was again tapping her foot impatiently, pressing hard her hands against her old-fashioned purse, which hanged from her shoulder. Her green eyes couldn't help but scan through the people above at the cruiser, waiting to see if there was even a clue about her son.

"Calm down, Margaret," Harry Bright put a hand over her shoulder. "I mean, even your hair is a mess…"

And it was true, as her wood-color hair was worse than a lion's mane.

"Look who's talking, you even brought that…that…" She turned to see him and his shirt, not daring to continue talking with her disgusted mouth.

"What?" He said, looking down at his own Hawaii-featured shirt, with natives dancing around. "It makes a _great_ combo with Edward's!"

And suddenly, a fat tummy moved through the people, pulling them apart as it approached Margaret.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" She yelled at Mr. Barker, who wore a shirt with two giant coconuts covering a Hawaiian girl's front.

"Aww, come on!" The man implored. "Just a hug, Margaret! I wear this for special occasions!"

"NO. WAY." She spat, continuing her scanning, but was shaken by Edward's hands, which looked more like gigantic paws, and got her attention.

"Listen me Margaret, the kids are _fine_," He said with all seriousness, the last word echoing in her head. "They must be there waiting for everything to organize and then they'll descend the ship, we'll find them, and we'll go home. _This_ will be just a little adventure our children wanted from their boring life, everything will be over today and we'll laugh about this in the future. _Understand_?" He finished, but this last word sounded more of an order than a question.

Margaret nodded part of her trembling in fear. She had always seen Sally's husband as a complete fool, not daring to ask why she had married the man. But there were some times indeed when he seemed to be out of this world, not in a fantasy one like always, but in a serious one. She chuckled, remembering how Mrs. Barker had told her he was a politician, lawyer to be exactly.

"Heeey, get your hands off her, you big palooza!" A female voice said, slapping the fat man with all her might, sky-rocketing him to the blue and white above. After three minutes, he fell.

"Sally…You didn't have to exceed that much…" Edward rubbed his now-black ckeek, looking towards the attacker.

And to Margaret's surprise it was Sally, dark expression equal to her dark hair. The woman now realized how she did _not_ know about that sudden strength of hers, feeling a complete ignorant. Maybe she had been worrying too much about her son, as Harry said, maybe she _had_ to calm down a bit.

She had even yelled by being touched by someone wearing informal clothes, unlike hers. She took a deep breath and exhaled now, at last feeling a somewhat relaxed.

Maybe this was all due to the lack of absence of her husband, who always tended to tranquilize her when things like that happened.-_I really miss you, Romeo…Not only me, but Luke also needs you…_- She thought, how she had seen her son at the late hours of night not asleep, but pondering where his father could be.

"ALL PASSENGERS, PLEASE DESCEND THROUGHT THE SPECIFIC STAIRS AT THE SIDE OF THE SHIP. OUR PERSONAL WILL AID YOU WITH LUGGAGE AND…" A man yelled through a loudspeaker, making himself clear everybody understood the message via the various repetitions of his message.

"Here they come…" Mrs. Barker smiled pleasantly, preparing to embrace her son who would surely be there in a few minutes.

"Oh yeah…" Harry grinned, wanting her little girl to be at his side once again.

"………Where are they?" Margaret asked. She saw how several people passed, including all variety of them; either noisy ones or quiet ones. There was even a kind of baby-sized person who talked arrogantly like a businessman while held by a tall woman, or someone who had a kind of bird by its side. But people just came and came, and the two boys and girl never showed up!

"W-what?" Sally blinked, rubbing her eyes to check they had seen well.

Margaret instinctively ran towards a man dressed in black with sunglasses, who seemed to be from the personal as he was removing the wheeled stairs. She didn't care about people who got bumped by her, not even flinched.

"Hey, watch it, woman!"

"Ouch!"

"Halt!"

"Ztop, can't you zee I'm trying to deal with theze luggage!"

"Wait just there!" Margaret said once she was right besides the busy man. "My sin and his friends haven't come down! There must have been a mistake!"

"I'm sorry miss, but we are sure that we emptied the cruiser, except for the captain who is going to—"

"I don't CARE about the captain, I want my son!" She yelled, as Mr. and Mrs. Barker approached, along with Mr. Bright.

"What happened to my daughter?" Harry asked to the man in black.

"Ohhh, your children surely have reached the finals!" Yhe man hit his face slightly, realizing.

"I didn't know you were the parents of that Yugi and Wheeler boys!" He smiled, and then looked at Harry, who had clearly asked for her daughter.

Examining him, the man then spoke. "Well, you sure _are_ lucky to have a daughter like _her_, if you permit me," He said, now whispering to his ear. "If it wasn't too much trouble, could you give her cell phone num--"

"You BASTARD!" Harry yelled. "She's only FOURTEEN!"

"W-what? Mai Valentine, _fourteen_?" The man asked, shocked.

"Mai what? NO! I'm looking for my daughter, Angel Bright!" He said. "And their sons aren't those two you just named; they are Luke Blake and Roy Barker!

"OHHHHHHHHHH," The man at last reacted, completely embarrassed of himself. "Those three are clearly not in the finals, they must be _those_ three…"

"What three?" Mr. Barker asked. "Did something happen to our children?"

"Indeed." The personal man nodded.

"What happened to my Luke?" Margaret implored, but then felt how a boy yelled in her ear.

"YOU!" The boy said, an arrogant look on his face.

"W-what's WRONG with you, kiddo!" Edward grabbed the teenager by his neck, raising him until they were face to face. "Nobody hurts Margaret Blake in _any_ way without messing with me."

"Don't you DARE you call me kiddo," He said, releasing from the grip with his hands, then turned fiercely towards the confused man in black.

"You said _those_ three, what about it?"

"W-well, there HAVE been some children going around the island, according to the many bodyguards who have been tricked by them, more specifically a chest-nut boy, a red-haired guy and a dark haired girl…" The man explained.

"THOSE are our children!" Mrs. Barker announced.

"Well, _those_ three are quite dangerous. They have harmed two of our top bodyguards, also renowned duelists."

"Hmph, while I look for them they decide to stay there to keep playing some _games_," The charcoal-haired boy growled. Afterwards, he yelled a command to a nearby elder who wore a black formal suit. "Yo! Geezer! Prepare me the helicopter, NOW!"

"B-but sir! This is so s-sudden! You can't possibly go to an island to duel just a—"

"I said, PREPARE IT!"

The old steward sighed. "Fine, sir…" He then backed away, towards the mentioned black helicopter which could be clearly seen in spite of the heavy masses of talking people.

"WAIT JUST THERE, BRO!" Marina Steamer emerged from the crowds, grabbing her apparently little brother trying to hug him but he negated the action with evasive moves. "Is this how you greet you big sister after so many times?"

"Spare me the peps talk," He said, taking her arms off and falling to the ground. "I'm dueling against that Luke whether you like it or not…"

"Ohh, you can't be serious, you know Father--"

"Father WOULD have wanted for me to do it!"

-_If you just were here to tell him, Father..._- Marina thought with remorse, as she tried to tell something to him, but no words came out.

"Did you just mention L-Luke?" A confused Mrs. Blake interrogated the boy.

"YEAH, HIM!" He finally yelled.

"Can I go with you, little friend? I must see my son's alright!" She begged, and the other parents insisted too.

"Hmph, as if you all would fit in the vehicle. Besides, I'm gonna make him _pay_ for what he did to me…" He frowned, turning and approaching the helicopter.

"W-what he did to you…?" Mrs. Barker raised an eyebrow.

"Luke couldn't have done anything bad…Could he?" Mr. Bright asked to Margaret.

"N-no…" She said, not trusting her own voice. –_Could my boy do such a thing to turn this boy into such an arrogant one…?_-

She kneeled down, with eyes not believing what they say, nor mind accepting what it though. Both Mr. and Mrs. Barker rushed to help her get up, while Mr. Bright hurried through the crowds to catch up with the mysterious teenager.

His efforts were in vain, as they all saw how a black helicopter rose to the skies, heading in the way the cruiser had just come…

----------------------------------

Maximilian Pegasus' cell phone rang with a cartoonish tone, probably an opening of some infant's TV show. He sighed, not confusing anymore on the duel Yugi Muto and Mai Valentine were doing in the floor below of his castle.

On the balcony, with a bodyguard at each side for protection, he answered the incoming call, putting the telephone near his ear.

"Hello?"

"Sir, I just saw how an unknown teenager said to go to your private island, he took off from the port in a helicopter where duelists had just arrived and is currently flying towards your direction." An adult's voice said from the other side of the line, and the tournament's organizer recognized him as one of his many security staff.

"What do you suggest, then?"

"It is not a danger to you and the current tournament though, sir. I heard his motive was to go there and fight for a certain person called 'Luke'."

"That's not anyone who's dueling here in the finals, and it's neither my niece's name."

"Yes, indeed. In fact, I think it's one of the three who are running in your lands when they had to aboard the cruiser. Personally, I think that if we let this new one enter your domains, and defeat his target, it will give us the chance to capture him and his group; and that helicopter-boy maybe."

"Very well, then, goodbye,"

"G-goodb—" Maximillian heard from the phone, but didn't pay attention as he hanged up to see Yugi Muto summon his Black Luster Soldier (3000ATK/2500DEF), the black knight advancing forwards, towards a familiar massive dragon…

----------------------------------------

Metaldix:D Chapter ovar, and somehow I managed to do it from Luke and co.'s point of view! Ahh, it was lotsa fun to gather in one chapter the majority of duelists who have dueled against Luke and Roy…ESPECIALLY ZAPRKS!

Neverclaw. Yeah, and if you don't recognize that FAMILIAR dragon, PITTY YOU!

Metaldix: Anyway, Tamma is heading now towards Duelist Kingdom…And Lance, Marina, Kari and Crusher met…

Neverclaw: Although it doesn't seem like, this chapter will be quite important…

Metaldix: So, keep tuned for next chapter; which has already been updated, as we're working much faster due to our WINTER HOLIDAYZ!


	29. Chapter 29

Metaldix: And with our winter holidays starting, we announce the arrival of this new chapter!

Neverclaw: BOOYAH!

Metaldix: And as we don't have anything to say, uhh, LET'S GET THIS CHAPTER STARTED!

Disclaimer: M&N (Ha, like those Rocklets candies!) do not own Yugioh nor any of its original characters.

--------------------------

Chapter 29: A rival appears!

"Keh, I can't believe how those two actually thought we'd go along with their rules…" Roy snorted.

"Yeah, but you didn't have to go _that_ far by hitting them and knocking them out…" Angel replied.

"What did you want me to do? Say 'okay, we chose the wrong door, please contact your master and take us to your his castle'? Besides, we had won that duel!"

"Well, maybe that way we could reach the castle faster…" Luke muttered darkly.

"Yeah, as prisoners," Roy shrugged, as he, Luke and Angel exited the dark and moisty cave to fell the fresh air again.

The landscape showed once again grasslands, with a thick forest just before the massive stone castle which didn't seem to be far away. Things were much brighter now that the sun had appeared, even though it was just the eve of morning; birds weren't even chirping yet.

Luckily the area wasn't filled with at least one man in black, who were common to see searching for the intruders. Walking hurriedly, the three entered the woods, where it was more difficult to be seen.

Despite their past fast pace, they now slowed down, making such slow movements that it seemed for them to be avoiding laser beams.

"Be careful, we don't know where those bodyguards might be, or even where hidden cameras can. We'll just have to go like this…" Roy said.

"What, _you_'re the leader now?" Luke stopped in his tracks, looking at Roy with disgust.

"W-what?" Roy frowned, almost acting as if he had been offended.

"Yeah, YOU give orders, we follow."

"Man, just what IS wrong with you!" Roy argued, his head turning completely red with fury.

"What's wrong with ME? YOU are the one who pissing us all, right Angel?" He then looked at his confused friend.

"Uhh…Well…I…" She tried to say something, but nothing understandable came out.

"Aww, come on!" Luke rose his tone. "You too? Can't you see that he's just TOO confident of himself because he beat those two baldies by himself, EH?!"

"Dude, what are you talking about? I just did it because of YOU!" Roy pointed at the yeller, who also turned red.

"Yeah, right, you just wanted all the glory for yourself, and let me lose!" He narrowed eyes, clenching a fist.

"Oh, SURE, you are now blaming ME for your loss! And what about that duel against Roxanne, eh? It was also my fault? Or maybe you just SUCK ASS?" He grinned, knowing he had hit something inside Luke.

"Ok, that's it!" The other one said, grabbing Roy by his shirt and pushing him against a tree.

"GUYS! STOP IT!" Angel cried.

"It won't matter what you say, Angel," Roy tried to smile while being strangled. "This guy won't hear a thing of what you say."

He then grabbed Luke's arms, and freed from his grip, now charging against him, and wrapping his arms around his waist, he rushed forwards, hitting Luke with every thing that stepped in their way.

"Oh dear…" Angel gulped, following the other two who slowly disappeared in the thick woods.

Meanwhile, Luke gathered the force to put his hands over Roy's head, which was against his stomach, and stopped him as if the red-haired boy was a bull.

"And to think I won that deck for YOU!" Luke spat, and hit Roy right in the jaw, but he countered with a punch directly to his stomach.

Roy quickly put his arm around Luke's neck, and pushed him against himself, so that his ear was right besides him.

"Dude, you just NOT want to continue this fight," He muttered in his ear.

"Ohh, I DO want to settle things with you!" Luke answered putting his hands over the tight arm of Roy's and pulled it against the ground, dragging along the body of Roy upside down, hitting the soil with a _thud_.

But the boy on the floor instantly pulled from Luke's legs, making him fall with him, and holding him tightly he started rolling, making both of them act as a wheel as they hit each other while advancing over the floor.

But suddenly they crossed a bunch of bushes, and when they left them covered with dust, leaves and branches, they encounter a rocky slope, in which they tried to stand up first but were useless, they had already started the descend.

"Holy…!" Roy gasped as they started falling hitting every rock that emerged from the surface.

They then hit the flat ground, all hurt from the descent. Instinctively they stood up in fight positions, when they took care to see their surroundings: right on their backs was the slope, but on the other side, the huge rock-solid construction rose above them, looking impressive with its light colored brick-walls, seeming to be from past centuries.

"W-we made it to the castle…" Luke's eyes widened as he stared at the magnificent building, when he heard a noise from the bushes from the left.

"W-who's there!" They both said.

"It's me, guys!" Angel emerged from the forest, walking in a curious way to avoid hitting with some other branches.

Luke and Roy then looked at each other, not knowing what to do, keep on the fight or stop for either their friend or the several injuries they already had.

But before they could make up their minds, they heard a shout from the other corner of the castle, and they saw how a huge bulky man dressed in black turned around it, encountering the three of them.

But this one had a peculiar hair, as it had an upwards pike, probably kept like that with lots of gel. "THERE YOU ARE, DUELISTS!"

"Crap, RUN!" Roy exclaimed, as he and Angel started rushing to the opposite side from where the man with sunglasses approached; but Luke stood where he, doubted whether to follow orders from Roy.

"LUKE, if you don't want to spend probably days in interrogatories, then _RUN_!" Roy yelled over his shoulder.

The immobilized boy nodded to himself, and followed the first two with his legs moving now at a fast pace. Turning around corners of the castle, the three quickly crouched and hid in some of the forest's thick bushes from the left, from which nine eyeballs watched their chaser run past, turning around again.

"Phew, that was close…" Angel sighed, and stood up immediately, breathing and filling her lungs with fresh air, not supporting the closeness to her friends in a bunch of plants.

Luke and Roy exchanged looks in their crouched positions.

"You guys…Please stop it, okay? That was _so_ stupid," Angel spoke from above, and both boys raised heads. "You know what I mean, of course. Now, would you apol—"

A noise from the sky sounded all over them in that instant. A continued one it was, like some drums doing a deep effect, getting louder as it approached. It attracted several people of course, all security men, and the one from minutes ago was included in the group, these masses making Angel lower into the small hiding place occupied by the three.

They were less than three meters away from the staring men; no one noticed the green moving though.

"What is that…?" On of them moved his head with inquire.

"It's a helicopter…" Another one said.

"Ahh, judging by its color it must be that person who came here to get rid of the intruders," The one with the gelled hair smirked. "They aren't that far from here, I just saw them."

Luke, Roy and Angel gulped twice and hard. Someone had been sent to exterminate them? A hunter? What would he do if he captured them? Put them in jail? No, they were teenagers, they couldn't be put in cells with thieves yet…Right? Had their Exodia card delivery gone _that_ far just by not telling anyone, and defeating two elite duelists of Pegasus'?

The dark helicopter was now hovering a few feet over the grass in a plain not too far, quite easy to see for the three from their uncomfortable spot. The vehicle sent flying every little thing nature had created below it, and it also made the gel sustaining the hair from the bodyguard lose its effect, breaking apart the already ridiculous style.

"NOOOO!" The man kneeled down, yelling frustrated and trying to repair the apparently great disaster, surrounded by his comrades containing laughs.

Slowly, the metallic bird landed, its engine stopping and so its arms. The in its side slid open, revealing an old man wearing a black formal suit, bowing respectively to them.

"Is THAT the exterminator?" Roy whispered, with an expression mixed between shock and disgust.

The elder then stepped off the helicopter, and where he had been now stood a boy wearing a pair of trousers, fancy red jacket and a black T-shirt below.

Luke recognized immediately that charcoal-haired teenager, with those red eyes and usual annoying smirk.

"TAMMA?!" Luke jumped and exclaimed at the same time, attracting everyone's attention, even from the ones who he least wanted.

"So THERE you were!" One of the bodyguards pointed at him, approaching at him slowly, but the man in black who had been crying until now retook his serious face and position, placing his enormous hand over the one who had talked, enough to stop him.

"That boy over there is supposed to take care of them," He said. "Pegasus' orders."

"B-but we can capture them right NOW!" The other one imploded. "What if things go wrong and they get away again?"

"Pffft, don't joke, we'll be guarding the scene, there'll be no escape!" The man with the destroyed hair-style waved his hand up and down.

"If it's orders from Pegasus…" He finally gave up, crossing arms. "Hey, you! You said you wanted to handle these guys right? Uhh…Do it!"

"Who do you think you are to order ME?" Tamma spat, looking at the guard who didn't dare to meet his eyes.

"W-what's going ON!" Luke yelled, confused as why everybody was ignoring the intruder who was supposed to be captured right now.

"I just came here to claim revenge," Tamma replied. "I've never slept peaceful since that night when you—"

"You came all the way here for a _duel_?" Roy raised an eyebrow. "You could have waited in the port, man."

"How WAS I supposed to wait there if you hadn't shown up!" His face turned red. "I was lucky to find those people who knew you lot!"

"_Those_ people?" Angel frowned.

"Yeah, two women, two men."

"O-our parents!" She gasped. "They must be really worried now that we didn't appear there…"

"W-what did you tell them…?" Luke asked worriedly.

"Heh, you should have seen that woman's face when I told her you were in serious troubles and that you've done me serious damage, one fat bastard could have even hit me if there weren't so much people in that place," Tamma chuckled.

"Fat bastard…?" Roy's jaw dropped with disbelief.

"Woman's expression…?" Angel raisedn an eyebrow, realizing it must had been Luke's mother, as Roy's had always been quite mentally strong.

"Me, having done _serious damage_ to _you_?" Luke's eye twitched, and shouted as he rushed upon the smirking boy. Leaping to reach his higher position other helicopter, he clenched his fist ready to hit faces, but was stopped by Tamma's hand!

"If you want so badly to hit me, I'll let you do it when you win against me in a duel." His smirk turned into a sadistic grin.

"GOD! What IS with these duels and you? Are they the most important thing in your life or WHAT?"

"YES! From the one who I've been trained in Duel Monsters, he taught me how I _always_ had to win! One mere loss would mean total humiliation for me!" He yelled, even though Luke could have heard with a whisper. "You don't know the humiliation that loss meant for me and my cards!"

"CARDS?!" Luke snapped. "Crap, this world is sure upside down! Cards CAN'T feel anything! Don't you see? They are just…just plastic little rectangles with pretty pictures!"

"Define them as you want, but you WILL be dueling me, or face the guards," His cocky smile did the work; making Luke give up and accept the challenge.

"A dueling arena can be found nearby," One sun glassed-man spoke, escorting the four teenagers through the forest, until they reached the familiar Duelist Kingdom arena.

"Well, it's good to see this one and not the one in that cave," Roy tried to look at the positive side.

Both Luke and Tamma walked up to their respective sides, the platforms raising them to the dueling grids, where they installed their cards in their respective positions.

"Do you think he'll be alright…?" Angel told Roy.

"Well, if we put besides the fact that we're surrounded by black men and the outcome of this duel will result being captured whoever wins; I don't know," He admitted. "You know how he has been playing recently, even though last duel he started with a long face and in his last turn almost defeated one of those Chinese guys.

We shouldn't worry about the field status luckily, as Luke doesn't have any insect, plant, beast or beast-warrior type monsters that I know of, and if Tamma is still using fire monsters, neither him."

"Please God, let Luke win this duel…" Angel turned to see the arena, muttering as the holographic coin appeared on the field.

"Heads," Luke said, as the coin flew, spinning like a leaping ninja, and fell on the floor instantly. Tails.

"Seems like luck isn't in your side this time," Tamma chuckled, drawing his sixth card and adding it to his hand. "And now, I'll be summoning the great Flame Ogre (2400ATK/1700DEF)!" He exclaimed, as al of a sudden flames turned on from the ground as if it had been an oven, and everybody could distinguish a figure appear in the melting flames: a _massive_ ogre, with an expression that showed passion for destroying things.

"This monster over here unfortunately can't be special summoned, but when it is normal summoned I can draw one card," He said, proud of himself as he completed his six-cards hand again.

"Great, he summoned a powerful monster and draws a card…" Angel said grumpily.

"He is really using the Duelist Kingdom's rules to his advantages…" Roy noticed.

"So that means once I get rid of it that Ogre won't come back?" Luke raised an eyebrow from his serious face, the comment surprising many. "I now use Stop Attack and destroy your monster with Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke (1800ATK/1000DEF)."

In a blink of an eye, the colossal monster had crossed his arms due to the just activated magic card, and was cut in million pieces by the just appeared Sasuke!

"W-whoa, Luke IS playing serious this time…" Angel couldn't believe what had just happened.

"You little piece of shit, who are you trying to impress!" Tamma barked. "You think you just won the game because you destroyed that monster, huh? Q-quit with that stone face, bastard!"

Not a single thing in Luke's face moved, even when he spoke: "Don't think I've forgotten what you did to my mom. I'm. _Gonna_. _**Crush**_. _**YOU**_."

---------------------------------

Metaldix: Holy wacamole! Luke is really heated up now! Oh, and want to know another thing which is lots fun? Messing around with Pegasus' signature guard's hair!

Neverclaw: .. I don't care, make Luke win. Please.

Metaldix: MWAHAHA! We'll have to see about that, don't you think so, folks?

Neverclaw: Whaaaatever, it's the first day of our holidays and we just posted our first two chapters update…I feel so proud…

Metaldix: I feel so therewillbemoreupdatessoonpleasereview…


	30. Chapter 30

Metaldix: Duelist Chronicles reaches the thirty chapters!

Neverclaw:………Are you going to celebrate every ten chapters…?

Metaldix: Ohh, you gotta see what I'm going to do in the 100th one!

Neverclaw: 0o WHAAAT?! Don't be counting your chickens before they hatch!

Metaldix: Oh great, you and those sermons…

Neverclaw: ANYWAAAY! Onto the duel we've been waiting to see now!

Disclaimer: Thirsty chapters later—

Neverclaw: STOP IT! IT'S NOT THAT GREAT!

Disclaimer: Okaaaay, you don't own Yugioh, FINE?

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Chapter 30: A Blazing Rivalry

Maximillian Pegasus was enjoying himself with his plastic bunny as he squeezed it, making a high-pitched noise as he smiled in his Jacuzzi filled with hot waters. It had been a long time since he had felt that relaxing feeling take over him, letting him go free, beyond those bathroom's walls.

He sighed as he leaned against the border, everything down his waist covered by the high temperature liquid and his arms stretching across the borders.

But suddenly, the silence in the steam-filled atmosphere broke as his cell phone rang on the surface right next to his right dry arm.

Once again sighing, only this time with frustration, he answered the telephone with a tone of laziness. "Yes?"

"Sir, the man you requested to come has arrived, and is currently dueling against one of the intruders," An aged voice said from the other side of the line.

"Dueling, eh? Ah, that's the best way to solve problems in my opinion…" He smiled to himself. "Arena?"

"Uhh…" The voice seemed to go away a second from the line, as if checking something. "104."

"Pretty near to the castle…Excellent, thank you for the report."

"Thank you, sir."

Pressing the OFF button with a finger, he put the mobile where it had been before the dialogue, and grabbed with the other hand something which resembled a television control.

Pressing a button, a flat plasma screen which had been on the opposite wall to him turned on; and after using his fingers another time, the image came. The arena, covered in forest fields, was completely empty except for the Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke in attack mode, on the side of the field of a chestnut boy. Thanks to the various points of view his secret cameras dispersed through the woods, Pegasus could see how the boy held five cards in his hand, while his opponent, the one who must have come from the port, six.

The arena was surrounded by his men, all waiting to act once the show was over. But there were other people besides them watching the duel, probably the intruder's friends, a girl and a boy.

-------------------------------

"Crap, they've got everything under control…" Roy muttered, not daring to be heard by the guards besides him.

"Well, what did you expect, we've been found, it's common to see everyone gathering around to make sure we're captured," Angel replied, not comfortable either by the many faces looking at them.

"Yeah, yeah, don't remind me of it…" Her friend grumbled, focusing on the duel ahead.

"Well Luke, it's my turn now!" Tamma said, as he drew a seventh card. "I'll be summoning Blazing Inpachi (1850ATK/0DEF), and with it, I'll attack your Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke!" His familiar burning wooden tree appeared on the field, and rushed as it screamed with pain due to the flames, but it did destroy the cautious ninja, scratching Luke's life points to 1950.

"You still have those low-defense monsters, eh?" Luke raised an eyebrow.

"You still have that pathetic loser's face, eh?" Tamma replied coldly.

"Shut up, contact eye-guy," Luke couldn't help to say.

"SHUT UP, YOU…!" Tamma snapped. "I'll place a face-down card, and end my turn."

Luke then drew, examining his hand for the next move. "I don't think your monster will be too long there, because I will destroy it with Serpent Knight Dragon (2350ATK/2400DEF)!" His serpent dragon then appeared on the field, and crawling at an incredible speed it strangled the burning beast, reducing it to ashes.

"Hmph, that was nothing…" Tamma said, even though he flinched when his life points were reduced to 1500. He then drew a card. "I will remove my Flame Ogre from my Graveyard to special summon the Flame Spirit (1700ATK/1000DEF)!"

The same flames from which the Flame Ogre had emerged appeared over the ground, and a bulky man with red skin slowly appeared, with the same expression of the ogre's: lust for power.

"No wonder how that monster resembles that Ogre, being summoned by removing it…" Roy sighed.

"Obviously it's nothing compared to your dragon, so I'll sacrifice it to summon Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch (2400ATK/1000DEF)!" Tamma's familiar monarch appeared from the spirit, its knight-like armor on and a flame being manipulated over one hand.

Luke then stretched his arm which held his hand towards Tamma in a bored way.

"I see you remember its effect quite well…" Tamma smiled.

"Yeah," The other agreed. "As it was summoned by sacrificing a monster, its effect was activated: you choose one card from my hand, and if it's a monster card, it is destroyed…"

"WRONG!" Tamma cleared. "If it's a monster card, it's star level is multiplied by 300 and that total is inflicted to your life points as Battle damage."

"Aw man, how am I supposed to remember something like that? It's too long…"

"Well, you SHOULD be able to remember it by now!" Tamma said, pointing at Luke's hand and choosing the card on Luke's extreme left.

"HA! You just chose a Magic card, see?" Luke grinned, showing his Dragon Treasure card for everyone's approval. "Soooo smart guy, what will you do next?"

"Attack your Serpent Knight Dragon."

"Crap."

The small knight then created a red spiral, surrounding with flames Luke's serpent dragon, the monster eventually not supporting the heat and fading way, reducing Luke's life points to 1900.

"My turn!" The boy said, drawing a card. "And I'll use it to summon Luster Dragon #2 (2400ATK/1400DEF), equipping it with the Dragon Treasure card to increase its stats by 300 points!"

The traditional dragon covered with precious stones appeared on the field, its power increasing by a just-appeared green gem to 2700 and 1700 points respectively. "With it, I'll destroy your Thestalos with Emerald Blast!" And the monster shot out a rain of cutting emeralds, tearing apart the protective armor of their target and destroying it completely.

"Hey…Luke is actually winning this duel!" Angel smiled, looking how Tamma's life points decreased to 1200.

"What do you mean with _that_?" Luke beamed at her instantly, with a one hit KO glare.

"N-nothing! Nothing at all! I was silly! Very silly! Right _Roy_?" She said (and also did a one hit KO stomp to Roy's foot), and the red-haired boy nodded immediately.

The mother bear then concentrated back in her duel.

"Okay, I will set a face-down monster with a face-down card…" Tamma said, and ended his turn.

"Well, I'll also do that, besides attacking your face-down monster!" After placing a face-down card and monster, his dragon attacked; and destroyed a defenseless UFO Turtle (1400ATK/1200DEF), a green reptile with an omni instead of a shell.

"And by destroying it, you activate its effect!" Tamma said, as Luke realized it had been a trap and he had just fallen in it. "When it is destroyed, I can special summon one Fire attribute monster with an attack of 1500 or less to my side of the field from my deck."

"OH POOHEY! Which monster could possibly have a chance against something like my Luster Dragon #2?" Luke said, his ears eager to hear a reasonable answer.

"Uhh…I dunno..." Tamma raised eyebrows, shuffling in his deck as he searched for a suitable monster. "Maybe something like the Ultimate Baseball kid (500ATK/1000DEF)?"

"HOLY CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!" Luke yelled, as he shielded his face with his arms exaggeratedly, contemplating the simple _poof_ from which the Ultimate Baseball kid appeared.

"T-that's _the _monster!" Angel gasped.

"LOOK OUT!" Roy yelled, wanting to scurry to safe, but the enormous guards wouldn't let him to.

"Wait a sec…" Luke muttered, gazing upon the low stats kid. "Last time it was _waaaaaaaay_ stronger…"

"That's because of his effect, genius," Tamma sighed, disgusted by his opponent's lack of memory. "It will receive a 1000 attack points boost for each other Fire attribute monster, and as there is no one…"

"A-ha! Then that means you just did a silly move!" Luke grinned with an opened mouth.

"Unless I change that fact, that is!" Tamma grinned.

"HOLY CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!!" Luke yelled again, doing the same protective action with his arms.

"WOULD YOU STOP DOING THAT! IT'S NOT FUNNY!" Tamma snapped. "Anyway, I'll remove my UFO Turtle to Special Summon Inferno (1100ATK/1900DEF) in defense mode…" He sighed, and for the third time flames engulfed his field, only this time there wasn't anyone who came out from them, but the flames itself were Inferno!

"Just so you know, when this monster attacks and destroys, it will inflict 1500 points of damage to you. After that, I'll use my Normal summon to bring the Raging Flame Sprite (100ATK/200DEF)!"

A dwarf-size kid appeared, hovering over the field with dusty clothes on and a cheerful smile.

"Hey Tamma, you just summoned a monster which is everything NOT like you! I mean, look at him! Old clothes…Broad grin--"

"GOD, would you shut up?! I can't believe I lost to a guy like you…Gee, I'll just attack with my Raging Flame Sprite then…"

"W-what? Are you trying to lose or something?" Luke blinked.

"No, it's just that this sprite can attack directly to your life points, and each time it does so, its attack is increased by 1000!" He grinned, as his monster passed between the huge dragon and the face-down monster, leaping and kicking Luke, with a boot that had what seemed some fire sparks.

"Oh well, at least it's not a danger now…" Luke shrugged, as his life points were scratched to 1800.

"Yeah, but it WILL be later!" Tamma said, now ordering his Ultimate Baseball kid –whose attack had rose to 2500!- to attack Luke's face-down monster.

"Sorry, but your attack has been negated by my Big Shield Gardna (100ATK/2600DEF)!" Luke smiled, as his crouched warrior stopped the incoming fire baseball with his giant shield. The ball the bounced and hit Tamma's head, as his life points lowered to 1100.

"Damn you…" Tamma growled. "Now your Big Shield Gardna will pass to attack mode…If I had only summoned Inferno in attack position…"

Effectively, Luke's warrior passed to attack position. But it didn't remain long like that, as Luke passed it to its original pose once his turn started. –_Let's see…Tamma has that Ultimate Baseball kid and Raging Flame spirit in attack mode, plus two cards in his hand…They all can be of great danger if I let them stay in the field, while that Inferno could cause devastating damage if it attacks, but it is in defense position…I CAN destroy his Baseball kid with my Luster Dragon #2 as it is powered by the Dragon Treasure, but I don't think Tamma will let me destroy it just like that, not with those two face-down cards of his…Oh well, at least I can protect myself with Big Shield Gardna and _my_ face-down card! Besides, I have 1800 life points while he 1100, and three cards here in my hand if anything goes wrong!_-

"Would you just MOVE?" Tamma groaned.

"Okay, okay! Mmm…Yes, I'll be attacking your Raging Flame Sprite with Emerald Blast!" Luke said, as his monster shot out the same rain of stones towards the kid.

"I don't think so! I activate the trap card, Sakuretsu Armor! Your attacking monster has been destroyed!" Tamma said just before the precious emeralds clashed against his tiny sprite, and a powerful armor possessed it, protecting it against the attack. "Flame Sprite, counterattack!"

And his monster did so, this time with a magnificent flaming kick.

"Damn, this is bad…" Luke said to himself. "I'll set a face-down card, and end my turn…"

"Oh, believe me, things WILL get much worse!" Tamma laughed briefly, as he drew a card. "As I am now holding a card which will make you _FALL! _I now summon one of my mightiest beasts…The great _INFERNAL FLAME EMPEROR _(2700ATK/1600DEF)"

All at once flames filled his side of the field, red as blood and bright as the sun, blinding everyone's eyes. But slowly, the flames took form…A body of flames; in the presence of everybody's eyes, stood a mixture of all kinds of fearsome beast: A centaur was the main body, with four legs, but had a human body with great burning fists, but a terrifying lion head and scorching wings!

"H-he didn't have THAT before!" Roy's eyes widened as plates. "Luke's in serious troubles now…!"

"Those attack points are HUGE!" Angel could feel little drips of sweat run across her forehead.

"Damn, the temperature sure is rising…" A bodyguard told the other one, who agreed as he used his hand to fan his head.

"So Luke, are you impressed?" Tamma grinned from ear to ear, wanting to see his victim's face: dying of fear, wanting to surrender, not knowing what he is doing there; but he didn't see such expression, instead, he saw a bored Luke who just yawned upon the arrival of the fire beast.

"Uhh…Actually, no."

"WHAT!" Both Tamma, Roy, Angel, and even a man in black who had kept tuned to the duel shouted at once; this last one calming down before his colleagues noticed his sudden mood.

"What can you possibly do against THIS fire army?" Tamma exclaimed, pointing at every one of his monsters.

"Well, I can activate this trap card of mine, Trap Hole."

"T-trap hole…?" Roy's jaw slowly fell.

"Trap Hole?" Tamma's eyes slowly grew wider.

"Trap Hole? What does THAT do?" Angel shook a frozen Roy.

"I-it destroys any summoned monster whose attack is greater than 1000…" He heard himself talk, and his shocked face then turned into a celebrating one. "WAHOO! YOU TOTALLY DID IT, MAN! KEEP IT UP!!!"

"H-how dare you activate such a dirty trap like THAT!" Tamma scowled, looking helplessly how his great monster got sucked up by a black hole below it.

"Dirty? Man, I just activated a trap card! Is that so bad?!" Luke replied in a confused tone.

"I will make sure you pay for that! Raging Fire Sprite, attack his life points directly and— "

"Sorry! I'll be activating another trap card, Negate Attack! As you may know, this will negate your attack and your whole Battle phase!" Luke smiled and shrugged shoulders.

"T-this is is! I'm NOT holding back now! You just declared _WAR_!" Tamma pointed a menacing finger at Luke.

"What do you mean! YOU came here looking for revenge and all that crap! You are not going to tell me now you were holding back!"

"Ohhh, Luke has got you there, buddy!" Roy grinned.

"WHATEVER, make your move!" Tamma crossed arms.

"As you say…" Luke shrugged again, and drew: his eyes flashed when seeing the card. "It's time I summon a good old friend, Tamma, which you may very well recognize, _Armed Dragon Lv5 _(2400ATK/1700DEF)!" A strong light shone over the field, and when it was gone his mighty dragon stood on the field, drills all over its muscled body, and tiny but challenging yellow eyes.

"So you decided to use your trump card…" Tamma narrowed eyes, as if planning an immediate counterattack.

"Yeah, and that trump card is gonna kick your ass!" Roy yelled from below.

"But that won't be all, Tamma, I will also use the Magic card Level Up! As you may remember, this will allow me to bring its evolved form from my deck or hand, and this time it's coming straight from my deck! Now YOU prepare for the worst Tamma, I'll be Special summoning, _ARMED DRAGON LV7 _(2800ATK/1000DEF)"

And the dragon's skin began to crack, white-like shine appearing from the smallest of fissures, until the very skin began to fall off, letting a stronger and mightier monster appear…

---------------------------

Metaldix: Like Tamma said it, Luke's trump card appears!

Neverclaw: As lights from the Lv. 5 shines, so does Luke's last hopes of winning this duel!

Metaldix: What will happen next?

Neverclaw: Keep tuned for next chapter!


	31. Chapter 31

Neverclaw: The second part of the duel which you people had hoped to see arrives!

Metaldix: Which will be the result?

Neverclaw: Only time will tell!

Disclaimer: To make it fast, they do not own Yugioh. Others do.

-----------------------------

Chapter 31 A Blazing Rivalry (Part Two)

As the duel in Pegasus' domains continued, Luke's new monster emerged: From the body of the Armed Dragon LV5, now stood the mighty Armed Dragon LV7, resembling its previous form only that this one looked much stronger, even as smoke coming out of its nostrils.

"Remember anything old with this monster?" Luke asked to his angered opponent.

"Do not think you are going to win just because you summoned that thing?" Tamma chuckled, as if it was the biggest joke ever. "You DO know I've been training especially against THAT card, eh?"

"Well, so far everything's going just good!" Luke grinned. "Because with it I'll be attacking your Raging Flame Sprite! SPIKE STORM!" After the yell, his monster sent out from its own body every single pointy iron object it had, but the assault was interrupted by the appearance of a javelin.

"I activate my Enchanted Javelin, which will increase my life points by the same amount of your attacking monster, in this case, by 2800!" Tamma grinned, as his life points rose abruptly to 3900, but fell instantly to 2200 due to Luke's attack.

As Tamma drew the fourth card of his hand, his turn started. He possessed a defense position Inferno and an attack positioned Ultimate Baseball Kid –whose attack had fallen to 1500 when Raging Flame Spirit had been destroyed- and no cards in his magic/trap slots. On the other side, Luke had his Armed Dragon LV7 in attack position with Big Shield Gardna in defense mode and held one card in his hand, with 1800 life points.

"Roy…" Angel shook her friend's shoulder, and he turned to be whispered in his ear. "How are we going to get out of this mess?"

"I don't know…" Roy answered back in the same low tone. "I was thinking about that…Maybe we should wait for Luke to make some bigass explosion and while the flash is on we ran away…"

"But what about Luke?"

"That's what I was wondering…While we're being watched, there's nothing we can afford to do without putting in danger Luke…"

"Yeah..." Angel said, and returned to her thoughts.

"I'll pass my Ultimate Baseball Kid to defense mode, place a face-down card and end my turn."

"Fine, then mine will begin," Luke said, drawing a card. "Thanks to my Armed Dragon's effect, I can discard one monster card from my hand to the Graveyard to destroy all face-up monsters of yours whose attack is less than my discarded monster; and I'll be sacrificing my Warrior Dai Grepher (1700ATK/1600DEF) for this! Dragon, FIRE!"

With a ghostly yell from the warrior, Luke's dragon charged something in its mouth, and when it opened the cavity full of sharp teeth, a visible flaming core was there, exploding and engulfing the Fire monsters in its flames until it left nothing.

"Now how's THAT level of fire, eh?" Luke raised a cocky eyebrow. "Of course, my Armed Dragon LV7 can still attack, and this my friend, is the end of the duel!"

His dragon prepared to attack once again.

"First thing of all, do NOT call me friend. Secondly, I will NOT let you finish this just like that!" Tamma replied, activating his trap. "Firewall! With this, any direct attack of yours will be negated!"

"WHAT!" Luke reacted, gazing unbelievably at the gigantic flaming wall which had arisen between his opponent and his monster, absorbing the incoming fire ball completely! "Shit, now that's a powerful trap…Ok, I'll end my turn."

"Unfortunately, I have to pay 500 life points for this every Standby phase of mine, and if I don't, then the card is destroyed. And I won't be paying for such a thing," He said in a disgusted way, as his fire wall crumbled up and disappeared as soon as it had been summoned.

"Well, that's something less to worry about," Roy smiled weakly.

"Luke, you may be a little angry when I do this, but I am going to use one of the very same strategies you pulled me off countless of times!" Tamma snickered.

"Oh yeah? Show me."

"Well, I use the magic card Stop Attack and…"

"BASTARD!"

"See? As you know, your monster will pass to defense mode, and let me say, THAT monster had weak defense points!" As he laughed, Luke's monster passed to a defensive stance.

"Uh-oh, Luke's in troubles now…" Roy gulped.

"And with such an opening, I will summon Mr. Volcano (2100ATK/1300DEF) and attack with his Explosive Temper!" A red-haired man appeared on the field, seemingly a clamed down person; but when the magical words were said, he exploded with anger by an unknown reason, manipulating flames which melted the defending dragon!

"NO!" Luke yelled, now to the clean ground, where his monster had once stood seconds ago.

"And now that that monster is gone, I do not have to worry about you any more…"

The field then took a cold silence; despite the heat Tamma's monster gave.

"H-he has been in this situation before, against Roxanne, where his dragon was destroyed…" Angel trembled, smiling weakly.

"Yeah, but just look at the outcome of that duel…" Roy replied colder than the atmosphere, even though he did not mean to say it in that tone.

"My turn…" Luke muttered, drawing a card. "Okay, I set a face-down monster and end my turn."

"Not so cheerful now, are we?" Tamma smirked as he drew. "I will set a face-down monster and with Mr. Volcano I'll attack your face-down monster!"

His monster flew at once flames from the nothing at the target, which was revealed to be the iron-armored Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (1400ATK/1200DEF), whose protections weren't even touched by the flames.

"Sorry, but my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian won't be defeated by any attack of 1900 or higher points," Luke returned the smirk.

Tamma growled, but nevertheless everyone understood how he had ended his turn. "Doesn't matter, everything's set for _that_…"

"That?" Luke repeated. "Okaaaay, I will set a face-down card and that will be all."

And as soon as he finished his turn, Tamma slowly did his usual chuckle, but then it turned to a louder one, until he started laughing madly!

"What now?" Roy groaned.

"Sorry," Tamma tried to calm down, but his efforts were in vain. "It's just that it makes me laugh, how you just lost everything by ending your last turn…"

"W-what do you mean?"

"What I mean is, that I am holding one of the cards which will grant me victory!" Tamma burst out laughing maniacally. "I now summon…_Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV4_(1600ATK/1000DEF)"

A magical circle was drawn upon his side of the field, an Egyptian-style golden eye in the middle of it, with unknown letters boarding in it. Casting a series of flashing lights, a creature was then summoned. Standing before them, and having the height of a wall, the silver skinned hawk appeared on the field, looking at its surrounding with some small red eyes, short but strong wings at its sides.

"_Dragon?_ That's more like a…bird," Angel examined. "And besides, it doesn't have THE stats…" She then beamed at Luke and Roy, looking for agreements from them, but both boys had opened jaws at the new monster. "Umm…Guys? What's so wrong about it?"

"…_LV4?_" They said with one voice, and then she realized how Tamma had declared its level in its name, just like a familiar dragon of Luke's.

"Heh, did you even thing your Armed Dragon was the only monster with that characteristic?" Tamma smiled, proud of the confusion he had just made.

Nobody spoke.

"You see, after my defeat back at Domino City, I started researching these 'LV' monsters, and I found out how there were only a few of them…but they were pretty powerful." A grin curved in his face. "So, it was in this search that I found a particular monster interesting, maybe because of its attributes, and here you are, looking at the very monster I found useful."

"And I guess it will evolve at the end of your turn, right?" Luke raised an eyebrow gloomily.

"Actually, I have to destroy a monster as a result of a battle to do so, and you just opened that door for me," He looked at the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian. "You said it couldn't be destroyed by 1900 attack points or higher, right? Well, with my Horus that won't be a problem! Go my dragon; use your Black Flame attack!"

And his monster did so, producing a series of dark colored fire shots at the monster, the warrior falling against them.

"But before I end my turn, I will flip face-up the monster I set last turn, Horus Servant (100ATK/100DEF)!"

And from the face-down card a muscled man emerged, wearing a gold helmet which resembled the very head of the original dragon, and various decorations with the same purpose, as if they connected him with the sacred dragon.

"Wait, did you just pass to attack mode THAT thing?" Luke pointed at the man, who hadn't moved an inch since his summon.

"Yes, and this 'thing' will prevent YOU from targeting my Horus with anything: traps, magic cards, not even effect monsters."

"But his attack is—"

"Low?" Tamma interrupted him. "Yes, but did you think for a second I would leave him unprotected like that? You DO surprise me with your ignorance, Luke. I will now use one card which I have specifically for this; I use …Level Limit – Area B!" Tamma smiled maliciously. "This card won't let _any_ four star level monster or higher remain in attack mode, and they will have to be in defense position as long as this card remains face-up!"

"B-but that means…!" Luke gasped.

"Exactly, MY monsters will be passing to defense mode, preventing them from being harmed—but wait! As I destroyed your Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, my dragon will evolve now!"

Another spell was cast the level four monster, and from its disappearance emerged a much more skilled monster than the previous: this one was flying, flapping its well formed wings which ended like hooks. Showing its threatening claws and whipping tails, the monster screeched with a high pitched tone, which made chills in everyone's skin, including the spectators in black.

"Bow to my new Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6 (2300ATK/1600DEF)!"

After a moment of awe, Luke spoke. "B-but it didn't pass to defense mode, Tamma."

"Fool, that's because of its effect! This monster cannot be affected by any Magic card."

"WHAT!" Angel snapped. "B-but that makes it invincible!"

"Hold on there," Roy put a hand over her shoulder. "That also makes it a disadvantage. Of course, it cannot be affected be affected by cards like Raigeki or Dark Hole, but it also can't be affected by 'good' cards, like the equipping ones. And remember there are still trap cards, which can turn situations the other way round."

"Ohh…"

"It was a clever move, though. With that, he passed his Horus servant to defense mode and prevents that Luke boy from doing anything to stop Horus from evolving. And he'll first have to destroy the Servant to do anything to the dragon."

"Yeah, but what if he—" Roy blinked with oversized eyes, and slowly turned at the male voice above which had just spoken from behind them.

A spiky black-haired boy was behind them, wearing a light blue shirt, along with some trousers which seemed to be pajamas. Roy then jumped with surprise at the stranger, and pointed at him with a frowned face.

"Now where did YOU come from! I thought we were the only young ones who were left in this island, unless—OH MY GOD. You must be a finalist! A-are you…Yugi Muto…?"

"W-what are you talking about? I just woke up and saw through the window a duel was going on…" He groaned loudly.

"W-who ARE you…?" Roy asked to the stranger.

"Now Luke, if you have finished glorifying my Horus, you may start your turn," Tamma said.

"You surprise me with your ignorance," Luke imitated Tamma's voice surprisingly good. "I was planning your downfall!"

"Yeah, yeah, just make your move…"

"Okay," Luke shrugged, now with his voice. –_At least I don't have to worry about my Big Shield Gardna passing to attack mode with that Level limit card, nor Mr. Volcano from attacking..._- But the most worrisome thing that invaded Luke's mind was Tamma's Horus dragon. How would it evolve into its next stage? By destroying a monster as a result of a battle, like its previous form? Or by another effect it had? He would just have to go with the first option, but for this he wouldn't be able to summon any monster…

"I won't do anything, your turn."

"Heh, see? My plan has no flaws. You better surrender and—"

"Shut up and move, would ya?"

"How dare you order _me_…" Tamma growled again, but shrugged: he had won this duel won. He was Tamma Steamer. "I will set a face-down card, and end my turn."

"Okaaay, I will now set a face-down card myself, and end my turn…" Luke said.

"Great, just the time I needed!" Tamma grinned.

-_Crap! He was stalling for time!_-

"I now activate the trap card I had just set: Reinforcements! With this, my Horus' attack will rise by 500 attack points!" And as he said so, his monster's attack rose to 2800.

-_This is baaaaad…!_-

"And with it, I will attack your Big Shield Gardna, once and for all! Do it Horus, use your Darkening Flames against that warrior and punish it!" The monster then sent out a beam of obscure flames, which hit the Gardna like flames against a single leaf, the result ending with the warrior as ashes.

"NO!" Luke yelled, watching how another monster of his was destroyed, him not having the single chance to protect it…

"The end has come, Luke Blake!" Tamma yelled madly, as he prepared to slam it on the grid. "Now, as I destroyed that monster as a result of a battle, I can Special Summon straight from my deck my most powerful beast…_Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV__**8**_ (3000ATK/1800DEF)"

The third and final spell circle was shown, engulfing the level six monster in dark flames, but not hurting it: transforming it, so that when the bizarre forces were gone, a _massive_ dragon was hovering over the field, making gasps surge from everyone present at the moment besides its master; this time having with arms which had knife-like claws _and_ wings, as if a giant silver-skinned T-Rex had been paired with wings.

"Luke Blake, you are now in official serious _troubles_!"

--------------------------

Metaldix: Tamma's secret weapon is revealed!

Neverclaw: What can Luke possibly do against such a behemoth?!

Metaldix: And who's the mysterious person who appeared behind Roy and Angel?

Neverclaw: Find out this and more in the next chapter!


	32. Chapter 32

Metaldix: Aaaaaaand the third part of this duel has come!

Neverclaw: Unfortunately, our short vacations are over, but we'll keep on updating.

Metaldix: Sorry, but don't expect any quick updates soon!

Disclaimer: With my Ominous powers, I can foretell that Yugioh will never be owned by those two!

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Chapter 32: A Blazing Rivalry (Part Three)

As Tamma's dragon appeared on the field, screeching with all its might, Luke's insides trembled. He was holding three cards in his hand, had 1800 life points and had possession of absolutely nothing in his side of the field apart from his face-down card.

Tamma, besides his just summoned Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8 in attack mode, had his Horus Servant and Mr. Volcano both in defense mode, due to his Level Limit-Area B Magic card, and owned 2200 life points with two cards in his hand.

"With my final Horus, I can negate the activation and effect of any magic card and destroy it," Tamma explained.

"Heh, but that means that you can't destroy magic cards which were active before its summon, meaning it will have to pass to defense mode because of your own magic card!" Luke grinned, as Tamma's monster automatically passed to the mentioned position.

"Pfft, don't hope too much," Tamma snorted. "I activate my Mystical Space Typhoon, to destroy my own magic card."

A small tornado then appeared, destroying his face-up Level limit-Area B card.

"Darn it…" Luke grunted, while on the sides of the arena in which he was dueling both Roy and Angel heard the yawning person's story…

"So, YOU are the niece of Maximillian Pegasus?" Angel's eyes widened with surprise, as she examined the talker.

"Pin Pegasus, eh?" Roy raised an eyebrow.

"Sheesh, why does everyone react like that when hearing that?" Pin frowned, putting his arms behind his head.

"Maybe because you are the relative of a multimillionaire…" Roy said. "And maybe because with all the money in the world you can do whatever you'd—"

"Roy!"

"Okay, sorry…"

"Anyway, Pin," Angel continued. "Why didn't we see you in the tournament?"

"Ah, preferred to stay in the castle watching you duelists do your job, on the bed of course, with some strawberries at my side, and--"

"Aaaaww, please don't say that, you're getting me hungrier than what I am now…" Roy groaned, so did his stomach.

"What? Haven't you eaten lately?"

"Uhh…Not much, really…Besides some horrible fish she--"

"ROY!"

"OKAAAY...In summary, we're doomed. You see, these bodyguards or whatever they are, are waiting for this duel to end and trap us all…"

"Why is that?" Pin asked. "I could get you out of here if I wanted to; these people have far less command over me..."

Roy and Angel looked at each other instantly, seeing in the other's eyes hope, as grins formed over their faces.

"It's my turn!" Luke said. –_Crap…If I could just draw something goo—COOL! Now THIS can help me…!_-"Now...I'll be setting a face-down monster and set three face-down cards…"

"Oh, poor Luke has run out of strong monsters?" Tamma spoke with a baby acting. "Well, 'cause I didn't! I pass to attack mode the Mr. Volcano, and with him I'll attack your monster!"

His monster exploded in anger, flames pouring from all his body as sweat, and he directed them at his target, which was revealed to be the little dragon Spirit Ryu (1000ATK/1000DEF).

As Luke's monster was destroyed, Tamma began laughing yet again. "The duel's mine, Luke! Horus, attack his life points with Engulfing Darkness!" His monster then burst out from its mouth a beam of the darkest of flames, which were coming right at Luke when—

"Hold it! Can't you see I'm holding THREE cards face-down? I'll use Call of the Haunted, to Special summon in attack mode from my Graveyard the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, whose effect I think you can recall!"

"HA! But he'll still take Battle Damage!" Tamma laughed.

"Not if I can help it!" Luke replied, activating yet another trap card. "I use...Gravity Zero! With this, I'll change every monster's attack position!" Luke's new monster then passed to defense mode, resisting the fiend fire.

"Just a lucky move…" Tamma growled, as he passed his changed monsters to their original positions, except for Horus the Black Flame Dragon, who had just attacked.

-_He was right, that WAS a lucky move…I just hope I get others…_- Luke gulped, and drew. "Damn, I pass…"

Tamma snorted. "Hmph, if you're not going to do anything, then this will be boring…" He frowned.

"D-don't blame me! Do something with your 'allmighty' Horus!" Luke returned with a finger pointing at him.

"But my monsters are _too_ powerful for him!"

"Yeah right…Just make your move, dammit…"

"…I pass."

"HA! Now whose move is an almighty one, eh?" Luke said, drawing. "Okay, I'll set another face-down card!"

"You and your traps…" Tamma said, looking at his just drawn card. "Shit, that Celtic Guardian sure pisses me off…Your turn…."

Luke then drew, a glint shining in his eyes. "Now I'll set ANOTHER face-down card, and set summon a monster."

Tamma gazed at the three cards laying face-down. "Well, I'll place at last a face-down card, equip my Dragon Treasure card to Horus, increasing its stats by 300, and I'll attack your face-down monster using the Engulfing Darkness!" As his monster's attack and defense rose to 3300 attack and 2100 defense points, it prepared to attack when…

"Sorry! But the trap I just set will be activated, which is Shift, a trap which will redirect your attack to another one of my monsters!" Luke said just in time, as the dragon's attack changed target, now towards the Obnoxious one; who defended against it easily.

"Fine, your move…"

"With pleasure!" Luke agreed, drawing swiftly. "And now, I'll summon Pitch-Dark Dragon (900ATK/600DEF)!" His black dragon appeared on the field, roaring with confidence.

"Is THAT supposed to scare me?" Luke raised an eyebrow.

"Ohh yes, because I'll be equipping it to my Dark Blade (1800ATK/1500ATK), who is going to be flipped face-up!" His hidden monster revealed itself, appearing to be the familiar armored knight with twin blades.

"W-what? How come?" Tamma asked.

"That's because it's a Union monster…Right, Roy?" Angel asked timidly, and to her delight she received a nod from her friend.

"Interesting…" Tamma's eyes narrowed.

"And that's not all!" Roy added. "IT'S FUSION TIME!"

"No it won't," Luke cut in. "You see, when I fuse it its effect is a completely different one, and I need the current one."

"Which is…?" Tamma asked again.

"To inflict battle damage when attacking a lower defense monster, the result being the difference of said defense and of Dark Blade's attack."

"Fool, but what do you intend to do with 1800 attack points, eh?"

"Weeell, if you had let me finish, I would have told you that Dark Blade's attack receives a 400 boost because of my dragon's equipment!"

"Oh."

"And that I'll be equipping my warrior with the Trap card, Blast with Chain, which will increase its attack with a further 500 boost!"

"Oh…" Tamma gulped, as he saw the knight's attack grow and grow until it reached 2700!

"And with him, I'll attack your Horus Servant, who has a defense of 100!" Luke grinned, as his monster rushed forwards towards the scared shaman.

"W-with that effect, Luke will be able to win without having to confront Tamma's Horus!" Angel couldn't help but say, but suddenly a portal appeared right in front of the shaman, in which Dark Blade fell; and reappeared in Luke's side of the field!

"No way!" Luke exclaimed.

"Yes way, with Negate Attack, everything's possible," Tamma grinned.

-_Shit, I had spent many turns thinking and gathering the required cards for that move…But not everything's lost…_- Luke smiled weakly. "Your turn..."

"A perfect chance to get rid of your Dark Blade!" Tamma said, triumph in his voice. It wasn't necessary for the words to come out of Tamma's mouth, as the Black Flame dragon advanced forwards, and was about to crash the monster with its deadly claws when the Pitch-Dark Dragon emerged from behind, shielding the knight with its own body!

"What NOW?" Tamma groaned.

"Sorry, but when you destroy an equipped Union monster, the equipped monster dies first, protecting the first one," Luke explained, but nevertheless his life points were reduced to 1500, and Dark Blade's attack fell to 2300.

"Those pesky little monsters…" Tamma frowned. "Your turn."

"Well, I'll be passing my Dark Blade to defense mode, and then, I'll use the magic card, Remove Trap! With this, I will destroy one trap card on the field, my Blast with Chain!"

Tamma shrugged, but still confused of the just-made play."Uhh...I don't think negating its effect and destroying it with Horus will be better, seeing how you destroy your own trap..." But suddenly, his Blast with Chain equipment, or at least the Blast, started to prepare for launching!

"W-what's happening?"

"Tamma, I just ignited the Blast when destroying the trap card with a card efffect, and bad consequences will happen!"

"So you used that magic card to do this...Anyway, I don't think a rocket can do something against a flaming Cerberus or a massive dragon," Tamma chuckled.

"Well, when it is destroyed I can destroy a card on the field, and since your Horus is being protected by its servant, I'm gonna be directing the Blast towards the Horus' Servant!"

"WHAT!" Tamma yelled, as the rocket crashed against his human, sending fireworks all over the place.

"If you don't mind, I prefer flames and fire in that tone," Luke smiled, looking at the multi-color sparks shine and ending his turn.

"Oh yeah? And I prefer your face in that gloomy tone."

"Don't start it, contact-eye."

"SHUUUUUT UP!" Tamma snapped. "It's time for me to attack! I will summon Flame Cerberus (2100ATK/1800DEF), and attack with it your Dark Blade!" A giant dog with three flaming heads appeared, and instantly it fired with all mouths at the knight, who was destroyed completely. 

Luke drew once his opponent's turn was over. –_Hey, this may be of use, but first I need to desactivate that Horus' ability, but not now…No, wait! I CAN use it, but it's just too risky…!_- After inhaling and exhaling, Luke spoke.

"I'm going to activate my trap card, _Skill Drain_!" Luke exclaimed.

"NO WAY!" Tamma returned.

"W-what? What's all the fuss about?!" Angel asked desperately to Roy and Pin, who seemed as surprised as them.

"Skill Drain is a very powerful card, which lets you negate any effect of any monster in play," Pin said, not turning to her but focusing in the duel.

"T-then it's a good thing, right?"

"Yeah, but Luke will have to pay 1000 life points, and his Obnoxious Celtic Guardian won't be as effective as before!" Roy added, equally engaged in the duel as Pin.

"B-but Luke will only have 500 life points, then!" Angel said, as she saw her friend's life points descend to the mentioned number.

"Fine, my Horus won't destroy Magic cards, what now?" Tamma shrugged.

"Well…I'll be using monster reborn, to Special summon Gaia, the Fierce Knight!" His knight appeared on the field once again, mounting an enraged horse.

"And then, I will equip it with my _Sword of Dragon Soul_!" Luke's eyes shone with the name of the equip card, as a sword with spike-like edges on it was grabbed by Gaia, whose attack increase to a full 3000! "Yes, that equip card increases my warrior's attack by 700 points."

"What ARE you planning…?" Tama asked with intrigue.

"_To attack your Horus with GAIA!_" Luke yelled unexpectedly, as his monster rushed forwards, instead of carrying his usual spear his Sword of Dragon Soul.

"Y-you can't possibly mean it, Luke! Horus, counter with Engulfing Darkness!" His dragon did so, but just as the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian had, Gaia the Fierce Knight seemed to be resistant to the attack—for less than a second, because as soon as it cut a scratch in the Black Flame Dragon's chest, the knight couldn't take it anymore, and fell along with Luke's 500 life points, now 200.

"What WAS that for, you nutcase?" Tamma said, a surprisingly concern in his voice.

"Are you worried about ME, Tamma?" Luke grinned, and then savored the next moments which where about to happen, as if it was the most delicious thing in the world:

_BOOM!_ In a pinch, Horus' cut in the chest grew until it covered the whole pained dragon, and tore it apart as it exploded with a painful screech.

"WHAT JUST HAPPENED?" Roy yelled.

"_A-Amazing!_" Pin said with an open jaw. "That guy is either a genius or a suicide man! That sword he had equipped to Gaia would destroy any dragon-type monster it battled with! He was willing to lose more than half of his life points in one turn!"

"So that was it…" Tamma frowned. "I didn't think you were _THAT_ mad…"

"I end my turn." Luke ignored commentaries.

"Heh, looks like now your active trap card will backfire on you," Tamma chuckled yet again. "Your Obnoxious Celtic Guardian is as good as thrash now! Flame Cerberus, attack now!"

And his monster did so, destroying the warrior despite his courageous resistance before. "Your turn."

Luke then looked grimly at his deck, as if it was laughing at him. All fell upon that moment. Again. And again. Why did every duel have to end like that? Why was he pushed to his very last move to draw something that might save him? It was as if it was a tradition now, which Roy passed successfully in all of his duel in the island, but in which Luke had failed miserably in the last duels…

"HURRY UP AND DRAW, DAMMIT!" Tamma yelled. "What ARE you doing, anyway? Thinking of some Heart of the Cards crap?"

It was as if a bullet had hit Luke, as he reacted with an instant yell. "W-what did you say?!"

"Uhh…Heart of the Crads, some crap my sister has been nagging about for years…"

Hearts of the Cards. Almost everyone had mentioned that phrase in the last duels. Lance, mentioning how it would prove to be worthy in its end, and somehow Luke hadn't had the slightest clue what he was talking about.

Roxanne, playing as though she had control over her deck, drawing a perfect card for the situation in each turn, and telling him repeatedly how he shouldn't treat his cards with anger, but with hope to get a good draw in the next—

Not to treat like that cards…Cards…Friends…Heart of the Cards.

"Crap."

"What?" Tamma reacted.

Luke sighed. "I've been messing up…" He muttered.

"W-what are you talking about?"

"I just realized what was all that Heart of the Cards fuss…" He said.

"Ohh, not you, you also believe in that—"

"No, it's real!" Luke protested, to Angel and Roy's surprise. "I mean, everyone who we've been dueling has been drawing successful card after the other one, and all because of that 'Heart of the Cards', treating monsters and cards as though they were _friends_!

"And I've…I have been screwing with that, not only I have been 'arguing' with them, but with my real friends, the most important ones in my life…" He then looked at Roy, who didn't know how to reply. "Guys…Sorry."

There was a complete silence, except for some contained laughs of bodyguards, who couldn't believe the moment.

"What are you SAYING?!" Tamma broke the spell. "You think that _cards_ are _living people_?"

"No, not living people, but _friends_." Broke the spell

"You're _mad_."

"Oh yeah?" A new Luke Blake asked defiantly. "Then I'm going to show you with my next draw what I'm REALLY talking about!"

"Pfft, go ahead."

"Luke, you can do it!" Angel muttered, and Roy nodded silently.

"And my draw is…" Luke glanced at the swiftly drawn card. "_AN EXCELLENT ONE!_"

"N-no way!" Tamma's eyes twitched.

"Yes way!" Luke replied. "I'll be using the Magic card The Graveyard in the Fourth Dimension, a card which will let me bring from my Graveyard two monsters whose names include 'LV'!"

"NO!"

"Oh yes," Luke said, as he picked the selected cards and shuffled them into his deck.

"But wait!" Tamma smiled. "You can't possibly draw them NOW!"

"YES I CAN!" Luke yelled. "Not draw them, but bring them to the field!"

"H-_HOW?_"

"May I present you, the last monster I'll be summoning to defeat you, _ARMED DRAGON LV3_ (1200ATK/900DEF)"

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Metaldix: Luke's last hopes embodies in the form of the original dragon!

Neverclaw: Will his promise prevail and defeat Tamma in the upcoming turns?!

Metaldix: Or will he fail in his Heart of the Cards theory?

Neverclaw: Find out in the next chapter, people!

EDITED: Yeah, took a while, but thanks to YugiohManiac for the point-outs.


End file.
